Kostas Karmiris © ECCO

The 20^th ECCO IBD Intensive Course for Trainees was held virtually on February 16, 2022 as part of ECCO’s educational programme. This is ECCO’s oldest and most established course. This year, a total of 115 participants from 34 countries from Europe and elsewhere attended the course and were offered a comprehensive update on IBD. The course focused on pivotal insights into the medical management of IBD patients in an interactive manner.

Christian Maaser © ECCO

While the ECCO Basic Imaging Workshop in collaboration with ESGAR had to be postponed until next year’s ECCO Congress due to the need to change to a virtual format at rather short notice, the 9th ECCO Ultrasound Workshop – Advanced in collaboration with ESGAR did take place and proved a big success, bringing together 114 colleagues from 34 countries, including not just European countries but also, for example, the United States, Uruguay, Singapore, Japan, Korea, India and Australia.

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

I hope you and your families are well and you are looking forward to spending the Christmas holidays together, as far as this is possible.

In case you missed or would like to re-watch some of the content from the ECCO’21 Virtual Congress that took place last summer – we kindly ask you to visit our e-Library, where all of the recordings can be found.

The ECCO Postgraduate Course (PGC) in IBD is underway! While the 1^st ECCO PGC was by necessity virtual, there is no doubt that we made history. Two hundred and forty participants registered from within and beyond Europe in order to gain intensive education in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).

Kostas Karmiris © ECCO

The 19^th IBD Intensive Course for Trainees was held virtually on July 2, one week before the ECCO Congress, as part of the educational programme.

This oldest and most established course took place once again this year, although in a virtual design, and was attended by a total of 100 physicians from 33 countries from Europe and elsewhere. The course offered a comprehensive update on IBD and provided pivotal insights into the medical management for IBD patients in an interactive manner.

Christian Maaser © ECCO

The hands-on imaging workshops have become one of the most rapidly booked ECCO Workshops in recent years as they are known to offer excellent interactivity. Participants have the opportunity to explore the potential of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) through the use of hands-on simulators and in some years even by imaging patients. In addition, there is always very interactive discussion in small groups with radiologists who are internationally well known for their expertise in abdominal imaging.

Marietta Iacucci © ECCO

In 2021 the ECCO Endoscopy Workshop reached its 7^th edition, and it has now become a mainstay of the educational activities of ECCO. This year it moved online as a fully virtual meeting and was organised by the Education Committee (EduCom).

Participating speakers and chairs: Ralf Bisschops, Belgium; Bu'Hussain Hayee, UK; Rosanna Cannatelli, Italy; Marietta Iacucci, UK, Pierre Ellul, Malta

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

I truly hope that you and your loved ones are faring well and that you enjoyed well-deserved rest during the summer.

I also hope that you all enjoyed the exciting scientific and educational programmes at ECCO’21 Congress in July. All of the presentations of both programmes are available on demand on the virtual congress platform until October 31, 2021. This was the first time that ECCO held its Congress virtually – the preparations kept everyone at ECCO very occupied with the organisation having been just as tough and demanding as for a physical congress. By no means did this signify that the production of our e-Learning material had been hampered – on the contrary, we have prepared plenty of new material for you to check out, and made significant improvements to the IBD Curriculum!

To make it easier to navigate and learn from, the IBD Curriculum now directly links to material in the e-library. This provides a more wholesome and hands-on overview for those seeking to develop their expertise in IBD.!

Our journey over the past year has been a remarkable one, and all of us have faced challenging times. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ECCO Imaging Courses, including the Basic Imaging and Advanced Ultrasound Workshops, have had to move online as fully virtual meetings.

Konstantinos Karmiris  © ECCO

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 19^th ECCO IBD Intensive Course for Trainees will exceptionally take place in a virtual format on Friday, July 2, 2021 (one-day duration), one week prior to the start of the main ECCO Congress. The ECCO IBD Intensive Course for Trainees has become a tradition. It is the oldest educational initiative of ECCO, dating back to 2003, before the launch of the ECCO Congress, and is the cornerstone of the Education Committee’s activities.