Friday, January 21, 2011

Dr. Jack Di Palma Elected Treasurer of WGO Foundation Board

Dr. Jack Di Palma, professor of internal medicine and director of the division of gastroenterology, was recently elected treasurer of the World Gastroenterology Organization Foundation Board.

The World Gastroenterology Organization’s (WGO) mission is to promote, to the general public and health care professionals alike, an awareness of the world wide prevalence and optimal care of digestive disorders through the provision of high quality, accessible and independent education and training.

The WGO Foundation is the philanthropic resource for the WGO. Incorporated in 2007, it supports the WGO and its mission. The principal aim of the Foundation in raising funds is to provide opportunities for training gastroenterologists in developing countries and to raise awareness of digestive disorders worldwide.

Dr. Di Palma said he was most active with the WGO’s “Train the Trainers” (TTT) program, as both a student and teacher. “TTT was conceived as an educational workshop for adults who are already experienced teachers,” Dr. Di Palma said. “It brings together faculty selected for their interest and enthusiasm as educators but who also have experience in modern educational techniques, along with participants who have been selected by their national societies as experienced educators in their country.”

The WGO is a federation of 110 national societies and four regional associations of gastroenterology representing over 50,000 individual members worldwide. Formed in 1935 and incorporated in 1958, WGO was originally known as Organisation Mondiale de Gastroénterologie (OMGE) and renamed in 2006.

For more information, visit http://www.worldgastroenterology.org/index.html.