AGA News
“Got to meet one of my tweeps heroes today! She’s even more awesome in real life!! #AGALeads #WomenInMedicine #WomenInGI @drfolamay @AmerGastroAssn” – Dr Aline Charabaty (@DCharabaty)
“Dr. Boland (Lynch syndrome) discussing career success in an ever changing scientific environment #AGALeads #AGAForward” – Eric J. Vargas M.D. (@EricJVargasMD)
“7 AGA Presidents, moderated by Dr. Anandasabapathy on Pathways to Leadership and Overcoming Challenges of the Era Presidential Panel @AmerGastroAssn Leadership conference program @SeragHashem @BCMDeptMedicine @KanwalFasiha @Aketwaroo @richashukla84” – Ruben Hernaez (@ruben_hernaez)
The event coincided with International Women’s Day, giving Women’s Leadership Conference attendees the chance to celebrate their journeys and grow into leadership roles with other #WomenInGI.
“#AGALeads #womenleadershipconference #womeninGI #InternationWomensDay with some amazing ladies in GI!! @AmerGastroAssn @AlisonGoldinMD @ibddocmaria @joanwchen” – ReezwanaCMD (@reezwanc)
“#AGAleads #WomeninGI women negotiating in a group are perceived favorably-Ellen Zimmerman, MD”
– Fazia Mir-Shaffi, MD (@Faiziya) March 9, 2019
“What I learned at @AmerGastroAssn #womeninGI Leadership course (after waiting a bit to see what stuck w me)
1. If you say yes to a request, you’re saying yes to doing it well.
2. Knowing your limitations will serve you better than being great at everything” – Laura Targownik (@UofM_GI_Head)
Aline Charabaty Pishvaian, MD, shared some takeaways in the AGA Community forum (community.gastro.org) about challenges women in GI face – a breakout discussion from the Women’s Leadership Conference.
View more insight and takeaways from participants on Twitter using #AGALeads.
Dr. Vaibhav Wadhwa advocates for step therapy reform in Florida
Vaibhav Wadhwa, MD, met with Ms. Laurie Flink, deputy district director for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), to discuss AGA’s legislative priorities.
Dr. Wadhwa thanked Ms. Flink for Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s support of the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Screening Act and NIH funding. Dr. Wadhwa also mentioned that Rep. Wasserman Schultz is not a cosponsor of the Restoring the Patient’s Voice Act and explained in detail about why this is an important resolution that needs to be passed.
Dr. Wadhwa gave examples of patients from his own practice and discussed the challenges they face. Ms. Flink was very interested in hearing about patients with chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) not being able to get the appropriate regimen because of the barriers created by step therapy. Ms. Flink was very appreciative of the visit and stated that these in-person visits along with personal stories about these issues go a long way in helping congressional offices understand the implications that these bills have.
Ms. Flink assured Dr. Wadhwa that she will raise these points with Rep. Wasserman Schultz and will discuss cosponsoring the Restoring the Patient’s Voice Act once it is reintroduced.
Dr. Wadhwa is a fellow at the Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, and is the AGA Congressional Advocates Program state leader for Florida. He is interested in therapeutic endoscopy and advocating for appropriate reimbursement for endoscopic procedures.
