Institution of Digestive and Liver Care concludes first ‘School of EUS’ training programme at SL Raheja Hospital

Recent advances in technology have been a boon to diagnose and treat many digestive problems. Endoscopic ultrasound was originally devised to detect and stage cancers. While it still excels in that area, a new branch of endoscopic ultrasound called ‘Interventional EUS’ has shown great promise in minimally invasive, day care treatment of problems like pancreatitis, pancreas cancer and obstructive jaundice. Since the techniques are new, there is a need to train young doctors in these complex techniques. With this in mind, experts from SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, announced first-of-its-kind ‘train the trainer programme’ – at the ‘School of EUS’ (Endoscopic Ultrasound).

Led by Dr Vinay Dhir, Executive Director, Institute of Digestive & Liver Care, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, the training focussed on equipping 12 gastroenterologists across the world with full spectrum of EUS training, from basic anatomy to interventional EUS.

The three-day training programme was spearheaded by Dr Dhir, Executive Director, Institute of Digestive & Liver Care, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, who trained 12 doctors from China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Indonesia, Taiwan, and India. The participants were trained using the Indian Interventional EUS Model programme, which is designed by Dr Dhir, and Japanese Interventional EUS Model programme, which is designed by Dr Mitsuhiro Kida. This was followed by live case demonstrations by renowned gastroenterologists and interventional endoscopists Dr Vinay Dhir, Dr Rajesh Puri, Dr Sandeep Lakhtakia, Dr Mitsuhiro Kida and Dr Kazuo Hara (from Japan).

Speaking about the training programme, Dr Dhir said, “We have seen a significant rise in the number of gastrointestinal disorders, and not just amongst the adults. Therefore, it is important to equip gastroenterologists and endoscopists with knowledge and training about the latest techniques in EUS. The first batch of the doctors that we trained under ‘train the trainer programme’ are now equipped to train other doctors, to help shape the future of interventional EUS. I am also thankful to all the experts for travelling across the globe, to join hands with us, thereby enabling this training.”

Dr Hiren Ambegaokar, CEO, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, said, “This is a brilliant initiative in which experts pass on their learnings to their fellow doctors, enabling access to latest techniques and methods.”