We’re in a good place in 2021, and I’m excited and honored to serve as SAGES president. Despite the pandemic, we can be proud of our many accomplishments over the last year. As members, the year brought many challenges but it was also an opportunity to reassess our professional and personal priorities.
Last month’s Board meeting showed that renewed excitement and engagement, with a multitude of ideas put forth by each of SAGES incredible 42 committees. SAGES has always been focused on surgical techniques that improve outcomes for patients – whether endoscopic, laparoscopic, robotic or the Next Big Thing. We’ll continue to build on these accomplishments by focusing on innovative educational programs for surgeons at every stage of their professional lives that enhance performance and improve quality and outcomes for patients.
There’s so much to look forward to over the next several months with the release of OWLS, our Organizational Wide Learning System that will enhance access to our multitude of educational resources including our ever expanding Masters program; the Technology Council’s 2nd annual Innovation Summit in Houston in June, which this year features the Surgical Disruptive Technology Summit, NOSCAR Summit, Advocacy summit, and the Surgical Video Data Conference ; the Critical View of Safety Computer Vision challenge to evaluate new and exisiting algorithms for automated detection; the GERD consensus conference; and the all-new Shark Tank competition at the annual meeting in Las Vegas.
The intersection of technology, education and community is what we love about SAGES, and we are all looking forward to an in-person meeting August 31-September 3. Friendship is one of the hallmarks of SAGES and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible! Register & book housing now at https://www.sages2021.surgery/