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.

Henit Yanai  © ECCO

“I’m not a fellow anymore but I would love to have the opportunity to be part of such a course!” This is a quote from a colleague who works in a private practice that I heard on the bus on the way back to Copenhagen airport after ECCO 2019. Thanks to this remark we embarked on this endeavour to hold the 1^st ECCO Postgraduate Course in IBD.  

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.

Henit Yanai  © ECCO

The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) brings together national groups and individuals interested in different aspects of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). One of ECCO’s core aims is to promote education in the field of IBD and thereby improve the quality of care for IBD patients throughout Europe.

The 19^th ECCO Intensive Course for Trainees (previously named IBD Intensive Advanced Course) designed for residents, fellows in gastroenterology and junior faculty will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 7, 2021, immediately prior to our next Congress. We are pleased to inform you that the preliminary programme for this course is already available.

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

I would like to thank my predecessor, Peter Irving, for championing the role of ECCO e-Learning Ambassador and now passing the baton on to me. I am honoured to take on this responsibility and thrilled to be able to reach out to you with the latest news regarding the e-CCO Learning Platform. 

Henit Yanai © ECCO

The 18^th IBD Intensive Advanced Course took place before the ECCO Congress as the highlight of the educational programme, which runs in conjunction with the Congress.

This well-known course, which has been held almost since the inception of ECCO, took place once again, attracting a full attendance from Europe and elsewhere. Overall, 94 doctors attended the course from 37 countries and were treated to a comprehensive update on IBD.

Marietta Iacucci © ECCO

In 2020 the ECCO Endoscopy Workshop reached its 6^th edition, and it has now become a mainstay of the educational activities of ECCO. Since 2019 the Endoscopy Workshop is a part of the ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop. The workshop was organised by the ECCO Education Committee (EduCom), and was devoted to and structured for physicians or colorectal surgeons who are specialists in IBD with at least some experience in endoscopy.

Christian Maaser  © ECCO

At ECCO 2020 two ultrasound workshops were held. The 2^nd ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop was devoted to the basics of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) and MRI. In this workshop, gastroenterologists from ECCO who are experts in intestinal ultrasonography and radiologists from the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) who are experts in IBD jointly provided delegates with a full immersion in imaging in IBD.