Dear Members of ISG,

It is an honour for me (and my family) to serve as the President of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology which is one of most vibrant professional Society in India. It is also an honour and privilege for me to serve under outgoing President Dr Sandeep Nijhawan, who is so gracious, energetic, and passionate about Society affairs and our members.

It is absolutely wonderful to have a very dedicated and forward looking governing council members who care deeply about our members and contribute in fostering training and good practice. They also care about serving our members, from the most junior to the most experienced, and about creating opportunities for the betterment and advancement of their careers.

Serving as the secretary General of the ISG has provided me greater opportunities and insight about the functioning of the society, which led to creation of many educational programs for trainees in gastroenterology and improving practice of gastroenterology overall. With efforts and support of everyone, we now have a secretarial office, a robust financial system and a well laid working framework. While the ISG office is under renovation, the working framework and day to day working principles and protocols as per ISG constitution are taking a good shape.

Creativity of any society is strengthened by inclusivity, hence I would like to encourage all members whether you are a recent member who just joined the Society, or an experienced member with greater exposure to Society affairs to send us suggestions and ideas to consider. One of my responsibilities is to facilitate the transformation of great viable proposals into reality.

While we receive your suggestions for creating opportunities and programs, we plan to launch a few new programs in coming year including Physician’s Outreach Program, framing of practice guidelines both for gastroenterologists and physicians, and reaching out to general public with health tips (how to keep your digestive system and liver healthy). We also envisage to expand our training and educational activities for the trainees in medicine in addition to all the programs to trainees for trainees in gastroenterology

We will do our best to make you proud of your association with the Society.

Wishing you a good and successful 2024, and looking forward to working with you all.

Cheers

Govind Makharia

President
Indian Society of Gastroenterology (ISG)