PSG
Rumblings WINTER 2025
WINTER 2023
PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF GASTROENTEROLOGY / NEWSLETTER
President’s Message / Manish Thapar, MD, AGAF, FAASLD, FACG
President’s Message / David L. Diehl, MD, FACP, FASGE
www.pasg.org
www.pasg.org
I am deeply honored and humbled to be the incoming President of the Pennsylvania Society of Gastroenterology (PSG). It is a profound privilege to The Importance Mentoring step into this role and lead of a society whose mission has never been more vital. physicians at one’s The is launching athank you forattending To myPSG predecessors, I want to your dedicated service and own training program work very mentorship program GI ahead. Your leadership laying a strong foundation forfor the years has guided us hard to train GI fellows, but this is through challenges, and career your counsel will be invaluable as we continue to Fellows and early generally different from a mentoring advance our sharedWe goals. GI physicians. will relationship. be reaching out to those Medicine as a field has been in constant evolution. Research, artificial intelligence, I have been lucky enough to have of who wouldpolicies like to andyou shifting healthcare keep us on our toes, yet our commitment to some important mentors in my participate in remains this project. patient well-being an absolute constant. Here in Pennsylvania, our
Manish Thapar, MD, AGAF, FAASLD, FACG
@DavidDiehlMD
medical career. The first was profession faces a unique set of challenges, which we must address head-on assigned to me when I was a firstMany us have benefitted from as an of organization. year medical student. His name mentors. Perhaps some of us have was Eugene “Skip” Felmar, MD and suffered the lack ofthe a mentor The first for is preserving sustainability of our practices. Whether you are in a he was a Family Practice attending during our education large academic centeror ortraining. a small private practice, we are all grappling with the in the San Fernando Valley area of Mentors can have a lifelongincreasingly impact pressures of consolidation, complex prior authorization processes, Southern California. I enjoyed going on their trainees, butchallenges. the relationship and reimbursement We must amplify our advocacy efforts at the out to his office and shadowing him does only one state not levelgo toinensure our direction. members have the resources and autonomy needed to closely while he saw outpatients, Mentors can getcare as much benefit and provide top-tier without unnecessary administrative burden. Our collective rounded on inpatients, and did office satisfaction their mentees voice is our as most powerful toolcan. in Harrisburg, and we must leverage our greatest procedures. Beyond gaining valuable Gastroenterology, like other areas of advocates: the patients that we serve. insight into the practice of medicine, medical training is akin to a “guild”, I found out why his nickname was where the experienced take the on our time Second, the increasing demands and resources highlight the “Skip” after he took me out on his novice under their wing to train persistent issue of burnout more aptly known as “moral injury”. Our members sailboat which he kept docked at them in the artsheroes, of theirand chosen are healthcare all heroes need support. We must cultivate a culture the Los Angeles harbor. Skip Felmar field. GI fellows, including us withinAllmedicine that openly discusses and actively addresses the drivers of became a role model for me, and way back when, had As trainers and professional fatigue. an organization we want to be promoting wellness the mentor-mentee relationship was coaches that typically were staff for efficient resources, sharing best practices clinical operations, and fostering mutually rewarding. gastroenterologists at that our program. a sense of community reminds us why we chose this challenging but Many medical schools provide rewarding path. PSG can play a for vital role in highlighting the issue and we Another highly impactful mentor mentor relationships, but this is less can all agree that the camaraderie amongst our members can offer a that I had was someone that I chose common in GI training. much-needed lifeline. Certainly, myself. Dick Kozarek, MD was (and
PSG/SOCIAL: @PAGastroSoc
INSIDE:
continuedon onpage page 22 continued
PSG/SOCIAL:
INSIDE
1 President’s Message
1 President’s Message 3 Practice Management 3 Capsule Course 4 GI Supergroups
6 Venue Shopping 4 Plastics in GI 8 EMR or ESD? 6 Annual Meeting Recap 11 Roulette 8P ower of Optimism
13 Jeopardy Winners 10 Use of Overtubes in Colonoscopy 14 Annual Meeting Highlights 12 Board and Staff 16 Board and Staff