The AGA Trainee and Early Career Committee – Shaping the Young GI Experience

AGA’s focus on young GIs

The AGA Trainee and Early Career Committee (formerly Trainee and Young GI Committee) is composed of 12 trainee and early-career AGA members and meets twice a year to develop programs and events specifically targeted to trainees and gastroenterologists (GIs) in their first five years out of fellowship training. The committee was formed by the AGA in February 2013 to address the specific needs of early-career GI professionals and to develop programs to expose younger members to all that the AGA has to offer. The new committee also became a creative space to organize efforts to increase membership among early-career GIs. Trainee and Early Career Committee members are selected for 2-year terms and represent fellowship training programs, universities, and practices from around the nation. Each committee member serves simultaneously on one other AGA committee, which gives young GIs additional opportunities for leadership roles. The committee meets regularly with AGA staff and a governing board liaison to discuss committee goals and the issues most relevant to physicians during and directly after GI fellowship training. The committee also provides feedback to other committees about how programs and initiatives might involve or impact GI fellows and recent graduates. The result is a unique focus group where young GIs from all over the country work collectively to improve the young GI experience through flagship programs like the Regional Practice Skills Workshop, the Young Delegates Program, and Trainee and Early Career events at Digestive Disease Week (DDW)®.

AGA Regional Practice Skills Workshops

In a 2013 AGA survey of GI fellows, trainees expressed a strong desire to have more preparation and training for the transition from fellowship to practice. Consequently, the Trainee and Early Career Committee partnered with the Practice Management and Economics Committee as well as the Education and Training Committee to develop a free half-day workshop to educate fellows and early-career GIs about practice and employment models, contracts and negotiations, compliance, and more. The AGA launched pilot Regional Practice Skills workshops in three cities in the 2014-2015 cycle, and received extremely positive feedback from participants. In 2015-2016, the program was expanded to five cities and feedback from the 130 participants was overwhelmingly encouraging. In 2016-2017, we held workshops in New York City, Houston, San Francisco, and Pinehurst, North Carolina. We were excited to partner with the New York Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the North Carolina Society of Gastroenterology to hold workshops in those two locations.

The workshop agenda is similar across locations and includes sessions on career options in research and clinical practice, how to evaluate a job, contract negotiation, health care reform, financial planning, and work-life balance. The program is geared toward second- and third-year fellows, recent fellowship graduates, and those considering a job or career change. All workshops include catered meals and are free to both AGA members and non-members. Those interested in attending one of the workshops can find more information at https://www.gastro.org/trainees. The Trainee and Early Career committee is also looking to expand to additional cities in future years so that more trainees and early-career GIs can participate in these workshops.
 

The AGA Young Delegates program

Interest in becoming involved in the AGA is on the rise among young GIs. In response, our committee launched the AGA Young Delegates program in 2015 to provide a mechanism for young GIs to engage with the AGA in a more flexible way. The objective of the program is to foster microvolunteerism, which allows individuals the chance to participate in short, project-based assignments with flexible deadlines. All projects are offered and conducted online, eliminating the need to travel to in-person meetings as formal committee memberships require. The AGA maintains a database of Young Delegates and attempts to offer each delegate projects that fit their expressed interests. In the last year, we have enrolled 70 Young Delegates—many of whom attended a successful meet and greet event at DDW—and have offered 20 volunteer opportunities. The list of opportunities is constantly growing and has included beta testing DDSEP 8® questions, serving as abstract reviewers for fellow DDW sessions, participation in the AGA microbiome project, and helping with the Regional Practice Skills workshops.

The AGA highly values the efforts of our Young Delegates, and the Trainee and Early Career Committee considers them a talent pool from which we can elicit input, select committee members, and find future leaders. More importantly, we hope that the program allows young AGA members to increasingly engage with the AGA to refresh, improve, and strengthen the society. To become a Young Delegate, please visit www.gastro.org/youngdelegates to provide us with your information.