Thank you to everyone who made the 2018 course a success!

Course Overview

This is the 33rd year of the course, “Medical and Surgical Aspects of Esophageal and Foregut Disorders: Pathophysiology and Treatment”. This year we are pleased to again bring together outstanding leaders in the field of Esophageal Disease as faculty and special guests. The faculty brings broad experience in benign and malignant esophageal disease from diverse locations throughout the United States and Europe to ensure a comprehensive, state-of-the-art yet balanced approach to the diagnosis and management of patients with esophageal and foregut disorders.

We are extremely pleased to announce that our special guest faculty this year is Dr. Joachim Labenz and Dr. John Reynolds.

John Reynolds is our special surgical guest and comes from Trinity School of Medicine in Dublin, Ireland. Professor Reynolds clinical interest is in diseases of the Esophagus and Stomach, while his research interest lies in four areas: 1) Pathogenesis of Barrett’s Esophagus, 2) Prediction of response and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, 3) obesity, altered metabolism, and cancer, and 4) malnutrition and peri-operative nutrition. He will be sharing his knowledge on the role of obesity in GERD and Barrett’s Esophagus along with concepts about neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer.

Joachim Labenz is our special medical guest and comes from Diakone Klinikum in Siegen, Germany. He is a member of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Professor Labenz is a globally recognized researcher and expert in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is widely known for his work evolving around GERD, and will be discussing the Pro-GERD data in relationship to CIM and Barrett’s Esophagus. Together they will provide unique insights into the GERD spectrum as well as Barrett’s and Cancer.

For those that have not been before, the course is specifically designed to have the feel and interaction of a small-group classroom environment where questions, comments and discussion are encouraged. The course is open to all physicians and allied health personnel with an interest in esophageal and foregut disorders and is particularly appreciated by gastroenterologists and gastrointestinal surgeons who focus on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with esophageal disorders, and for those who have or are interested in developing a swallowing center and function as a team to collaboratively approach esophageal problems. The lectures are detailed and supported by existing literature and on-going research to provide cutting-edge information that can be immediately applied to patient care. Each lecture is followed by ample time for often vigorous discussion and interaction between the faculty and attendees as areas of controversy are further explored and debated. Featured topics this year will include GERD Diagnostics, medical and surgical therapy for GERD, Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer. We will discuss the “Spectrum of GERD” and debate whether therapy should depend on GERD stage. We will cover esophageal cancer staging, endoscopic therapy for early cancer and options including immunotherapy to treat patients with advanced cancer. In addition, the interactive audience response session that was initiated last year will continue this year with a session on the SuperBowl of Manometry–where participants will see typical, unusual, and rare abnormalities on motility tracings and have an opportunity to try to identify the abnormality and discuss the tracings in detail with experts in HRM. As in prior years there will be “hands-on” break-out sessions involving high resolution motility, esophageal pH and pH + impedance monitoring, stents, and novel diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. This portion of the course will expose the participants to each of these areas along with instruction, assistance and information exchange from the faculty. It promises to be a truly interesting, informative and enjoyable educational experience.

We hope you can join us on the beautiful Hawaiian Island of Maui this February!

New this year

We are introducing the DON AND TOM ATTENDEE.  Our vision is that a fellow or young attending (within the first 2 years after fellowship) with plans for a career in esophageal disease be sponsored to attend the course.  The plan would be to alternate each year between a gastroenterologist and a surgeon.    Find out more information about how you can support a fellow or young attending by going to our Don & Tom Sponsored Attendee page.

ACCREDITATION

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American College of Surgeons and Foundation for Research and Education in Esophageal and Foregut Disease. The American College of Surgeons is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™: The American College of Surgeons designates this live activity for a maximum of 29.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

ABS MOC Program: This activity will also provide self-assessment credits towards Part 2 of the ABS MOC Program. In order to claim self-assessment credits toward Part 2 of the American Board of Surgery (ABS) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program, eligible learners must complete and pass (75% passing rate) a graded quiz. Please note that only ABS qualified surgeons are eligible for MOC credit.

Objectives

This activity is designed for physicians and allied health personnel with an interest in esophageal and foregut disorders and is particularly appreciated by gastroenterologists and gastrointestinal surgeons who focus on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with esophageal disorders. At the conclusion of this course, participants should be able to:

1. Understand the normal function and pathophysiology of the esophageal body and sphincters and the appropriate use of esophageal function studies.

2. Interpret esophageal diagnostic studies including high-resolution manometry, pH and impedance testing, and novel technologies including optical coherence tomography and endomicroscopy.

3. Appropriately recommend intervention for paraesophageal hernias and understand the controversy regarding repair techniques and mesh use at the hiatus.

4. Discuss the epidemiology and risk factors for GERD, Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

5. Stage esophageal cancer and discuss the options and outcomes with endoscopic and surgical management for early stage esophageal cancer.