PSG
Rumblings SUMMER 2024
WINTER 2023
PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF GASTROENTEROLOGY / NEWSLETTER
President’s Message / Karen Krok, MD, FAASLD, FACG President’s Message / David L. Diehl, MD, FACP, FASGE
@Klkrok @DavidDiehlMD
www.pasg.org
www.pasg.org
The summer is always a time for new beginnings in the world of Medicine – new residents and fellows are starting, medical students come to school for the first The of Mentoring time orImportance come back from summer break. It is a time that I look forward to every year as I have dedicated a lot of my career to mentoring fellows, residents and attending physicians at one’s The PSG is launching medical students. One of theajobs I have enjoyed the most in my career has been training program work very mentorship program for for GI our GIown as an Associate Program Director Fellowship program and previously hard to train GI fellows, but this is when I wasand the fellowship program director. Fellows early career generally different from a mentoring GI physicians. We will relationship. It always reminds me of why I went into medicine. What made me write a paper be reaching out to those in 6th grade about my future career – and I chose DOCTOR? Although I wrote I have been lucky enough to have of you who would like to I am obviously about being a pediatrician – which not – my goal in life since I was some important mentors in my participate this Why project. a kid was to be aindoctor. did you choose your path? medical career. The first was assigned to me when I was a firstMany of us have Mentors help youbenefitted to choose from your path. As a child I spent time as a patient at year medical student. His name mentors. Perhaps some of us have requiring the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia 4 surgeries on my bladder and was Eugene “Skip” Felmar, MD and suffered lack of ato mentor kidneys. for Mythe connection my surgeon – Dr. John Duckett, some of whom would he was a Family Practice attending during our describe aseducation the Fatheror oftraining. Pediatric Urology – was profound. I wanted to help in the San Fernando Valley area of Mentors have a lifelong others ascan he helped me and impact my family. He was always warm and kind when I Southern California. I enjoyed going on their trainees, the relationship went to visit him. but He suggested a high school for me to attend – and I did. He out to his office and shadowing him does notme goainsummer only one direction. offered and holiday break job working in his office – which I did. It closely while he saw outpatients, Mentors can get benefit(yes and– it was wasn’t a fancy jobas – Imuch filed papers at a time when there were paper rounded on inpatients, and did office satisfaction as their mentees can.other clerical charts), answered the phone and tasks, but I was able to spend procedures. Beyond gaining valuable Gastroenterology, otherWhen areas Iof more time with mylike mentor. applied to medical school, he recommended insight into the practice of medicine, medical training akin to aof “guild”, that I look at TheisUniversity Pennsylvania. And on the day that I found out I was found out why his nickname was where theto experienced takethat thehe passedIaway accepted Penn, I learned unexpectedly. He was my first “Skip” after he took me out on his novice their wing to train mentorunder and I wonder to this day if I would have been a urologist to follow in his sailboat which he kept docked at them in the arts of their footsteps if he were alivechosen to mentor me during medical school. the Los Angeles harbor. Skip Felmar field. All GI fellows, including us became a role model for me, and way back when, had trainers I enjoy being a mentor. I enjoyand rounding with the medical students and teaching the mentor-mentee relationship was coaches thatoftypically were staff them – and course learning from them. The questions that we get asked on mutually rewarding. gastroenterologists atto our rounds encourage us beprogram. better doctors and to seek out the answers as to the Many medical schools provide for WHY we do something; you can’t just say to the student “we just do it this way” Another highly impactful mentor mentor relationships, is less as you need to explainbut thethis pathophysiology behind hepatorenal syndrome or that I had was someone that I chose common in GI training. Certainly, encephalopathy. I know many of you have mentors that have influenced you. I myself. Dick Kozarek, MD was (and would encourage you to reach out to one of those mentors and thank them for
PSG/SOCIAL: @PAGastroSoc
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PSG/SOCIAL: @PAGastroSoc
INSIDE
1 President’s Message
1 President’s Message 3 Practice Management 4 Governor’s Update 4 GI Supergroups 6 Fellowship Program
6 Venue Shopping 7 Crossword Puzzle Fun 8 EMR or ESD? 8 Locum Tenens 11 Roulette 10 Contract Terms
13 Jeopardy Winners 12 A Poem for Joseph Merrick 14 Annual Meeting Highlights 15 Annual Meeting Agenda 16 Board and Staff 16 Board and Staff