Current co-chair of the Guidelines Committee Dr. Geoff Kohn is quick to make the pitch for Guidelines. “Our committee creates high-quality, evidence-based guidelines to inform our members’ practice. When one encounters a difficult clinical problem in MIS, it’s likely that SAGES has a guideline addressing it! You can find these guidelines on the SAGES website or published in Surgical Endoscopy.”
Recent highlights from the committee have been publications regarding management of hiatal hernias, GERD, and the role for POEM in achalasia. Coming soon is publication of the SAGES Manual of Surgical Referral for Primary and Emergency Care, which will provide Primary Care physicians guidance regarding surgical problems. You can see all published guidelines here.
In addition to the Guidelines committee, Dr. Kohn has been active in the Membership committee, completed a few courses, presented a few talks and having returned from Los Angeles to his native Australia in 2014, received the SAGES International Ambassador Award in 2014.
Encouraged by his mentor Dr. Tim Farrell to join SAGES and the Guidelines committee, the Melbourne-based Dr. Kohn Dr. joined as Candidate Member while he was an MIS Fellow and upgraded to an Active member after he completed his fellowship.
In addition to Dr. Farrell, he says, “Dr. Jeff Marks was an invaluable teacher for my practice in endoscopic surgery, even traveling out to Australia as my proctor. My journey into the world of Guidelines has also been influenced by the knowledge of subject expert Dr Dimitrios Stefanidis.”
Dr. Kohn earned his medical degree from Monash University and his Australian qualifications in Surgery in 2007. He then undertook two clinical fellowships in the U.S., first in minimally invasive surgery at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and then in esophageal surgery at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Kohn has attended most annual meetings, allowing him to form many friendships with MIS colleagues from around the world. When he’s not in the hospital or at a SAGES meeting, you’ll find him with his family, on his bike or running, or planning his family’s next travel adventure.
He adds, “SAGES is a very friendly society and far more welcoming to junior and early-career surgeons than most other societies. Even when just starting out in my career, there was a space for me in SAGES to contribute, to develop my career, to network and to make good friends. It has been my surgical home since I joined! Even as I moved from the U.S. to Australia, I have remained involved, included and welcomed by our increasingly international society. I would encourage other MIS surgeons, particularly those in their early careers to join and to partake in all opportunities our association has to offer.”
