Dr. Di Palma has been an active member in the American College of Gastroenterology for nearly two decades. He began his role as an ACG trustee in 1996, and continued to move up through various leadership roles by serving as a member of the ACG executive committee from 2001 to 2007. From 2005 to 2006 Dr. Di Palma served as ACG president. Most recently, in 2013, Dr. Di Palma was an honoree of the Samuel S. Weiss Award. The Weiss award is given to those who have provided outstanding service to the college.
"I am humbled by the recognition. Involvement with national professional associations has helped me grow as a physician and investigator,” said Dr. Di Palma.
The American College of Gastroenterology designated Dr. Di Palma as a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology due to his stature, achievement, and commitment in clinical gastroenterology through clinical practice, education, research, leadership, and service to the College.
Dr. Di Palma earned his medical degree at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., and completed his residency in internal medicine at U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. Dr. Di Palma completed a gastroenterology fellowship at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. He went on to establish the Division of Gastroenterology at USA, a program in which he continues to direct.
Dr. Di Palma’s scholarly interests range in areas of digestive disorders and physiology. He has contributed to more than 350 published articles, reviews, book chapters and abstracts. Continuing the tradition of service, he has an abundance of experience as an editor and reviewer of others’ works that have been published in medical journals.
Dr. Di Palma also directs the gastroenterology fellowship training program, which is well-known for providing educational leadership to medical students, residents, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners. Among his many honors, Dr. Di Palma was previously recognized as “Best Clinical Teacher” by the USA College of Medicine’s Class of 1996, as well as “Best Doctor” in Mobile and Baldwin counties, Alabama, and America.
The ACG was founded in 1932 and holds yearly meetings and regional postgraduate training courses. The ACG establishes research grants and also publishes The American Journal of Gastroenterology. More than 12,000 physicians from 82 countries are members of the ACG. Through annual scientific meetings, regional postgraduate training courses and research grants, the ACG provides its members with the most accurate and up-to-date scientific information on digestive health and the etiology, symptomatology and treatment of GI disorders.
