March 2011

Choitsu Sakamoto
Chairperson of the Board of Directors,
Japanese Gastroenterological Association

Prof. Akira Terano, the previous Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the JGA, has retired after fulfilling his term at the 7th Annual Meeting of the JGA held in February 2011, and I, Choitsu Sakamoto, was chosen as the new JGA Chairperson of the Board of Directors at the Board Meeting held promptly afterward. I know I have so much more yet to accomplish to reach the level of an experienced teacher like Prof. Terano. It is quite a sobering effect considering the burden of responsibility to take over what he has achieved by rapidly growing the JGA from a fledgling organization to a large association boasting more than 4,000 members. I would like you to know how grateful I am for the continued guidance from our Board, the Councilors and each member, while getting advice from Prof. Terano.

I would like to introduce the present situation of our association. The 7th Annual Meeting of the JGA was held with success, welcoming more than 2,300 participants in Kyoto this February as you may already know. During the Councilors Meeting, six new directors were approved, and recently the total number of members has exceeded 4,000. It is now the right situation to say that the JGA has reached a position to rank with many other organizations covering Japanese gastroenterology. For seven years, we have aimed for the Gastroenterological Specialist System (provisional title), and I am positive that our administrative decision was right to keep the system of organizing programs with a continued theme, and not making a major shift each year, with carefully planned preparation of the scientific programs organized between the Scientific Planning Committee Chairperson and each Annual Meeting Chairperson. We need to create more programs focusing on the interests of surgical doctors at our future Annual Meetings to further increase participation. The 8th Annual Meeting is going to be held in 2012, chaired by Prof. Michio Hongo of Tohoku University. Even after the great disaster hitting us this past March, the situation changes moment by moment, but I am keen on having the association support reconstruction, and ask each member’s support and participation for a successful annual meeting.

As you can see, the JGA is still moving forward in its development, but on the other hand, the administrative weakness of the organization is becoming clear. The Human Resources Committee has worked on the selection of Councilors till now, but has also become involved in the election of chairpersons of various committees, the committee members, and the Board of Directors in recent discussions. However, we recently introduced a new director election system upon the recommendation of each Board member. In other words, there are no clear rules about the officer election currently, and we will soon need to clarify the system for the election of Directors of Board Members and Councilors, as well as their terms. It is necessary for the establishment of a new written agreement to correspond to the new situation. However, on the other hand, an association is not operated by only committee activities and elections, and I feel the times require the leadership of the JGA Chairperson of the Board of Directors. Therefore, I will be holding meetings for the JGA’s future plan in the aim of our organizational administration reform.

In the future, this association must ask for affiliation and cooperation with the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology, the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society, and the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery while pursuing its own originality. Furthermore, I think that medical scientific organizations and societies at the core of Japan need to take responsibility for not only the technology and medical advances, but also the medical progress of this country. I want us, the JGA, to be a group at the core, to walk with many groups and related societies leading the way, for the future progress of medical sciences and procedures, and ask members for their continued and further active participation.

With kind regards,

Choitsu Sakamoto