ACG President: ‘Never before have our professional societies been more needed’
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In a year of unprecedented health and social challenges, the American College of Gastroenterology president saw the good that will come from professional medical societies leading the change.
“Prior to this year, I gave talks about leadership that stress the important concepts of meaningful engagement, courage, resiliency, and embracing change,” Mark B. Pochapin, MD, said during his president’s address at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting. “Never have these components been as important and as tested as this year ... and I believe the ACG came out stronger and as a beacon for all of us.”
COVID war
Pochapin, who has worked in New York City for most of his career, recalled converting just one wing of NYU Langone into a contingency plan for COVID-19, never imagining the entire hospital would become ground zero for COVID treatment and that he would be among those physicians putting aside their specialty to join the front lines, all while serving as ACG President.
“I have to look past the horror of this virus in taking the lives of over 215,000 Americans,” Pochapin said. “Instead, I am in awe of the courage of those who went to the front lines, the researchers who have literally developed protocols overnight for new treatments in vaccinations and the medical professions that put the health of others as our top priority and the leadership of the ACG that did not shy away from this crisis, but embraced it as a priority and responsibility to its members.”
From the time COVID-19 impacted gastroenterologists, Pochapin touted the adaptation and accomplishments of the College and its leaders from ‘lightning speed’ review of data coming in from COVID-19 hotspots to be published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology to real-time input from U.S. physicians working the front lines in managing patients. The ACG held a virtual fly-in to Washington to keep key GI policy issues on their radar and organized Virtual Grand Rounds and COVID-19-specific webinars to educate members — a total of 47 with more than 36,000 participants.
“War lingo was all around us — COVID army, frontlines service, reserves, deployment and battle buddies. But we learned that this was more than just lingo,” Pochapin said. “We were actually at war with this virus. Mental health professionals said that, yes, the COVID stress was very similar to real battle and with three additional elements: one you're fighting this on your home turf; two, if you get hit by a bullet, you don't know about it until a week later; and three, and probably worse, you may even bring that bullet home to your family.”
This battle redefined resilience for the physician, he said, but another battle loomed.
Confronting racism in medicine
The challenges of 2020 and Pochapin’s presidency did not stop with an infectious pandemic.
“The horrific murder of George Floyd occurred and open our country’s eyes to the horror of systemic racism and put a spotlight on the disparities in health care, which were particularly evident in the COVID infection hotspots and the COVID mortality data,” he said. “The ACG as a professional society recognized the urgent need to speak out. I was so proud to represent a professional society that unanimously approved to immediately put out a strong statement, denouncing racism and discrimination of any kind.”
In releasing the ACG statement, followed by collaborative statements from sister societies, Pochapin furthered the mission of the ACG Diversity and Inclusion committee and commended leaders like Renee Williams, MD; Darrell Gray II, MD; and Sophie Balzora, MD, for the actionable plan they put into place — one that started before the imminent need arose and furthered by the support of the society.
“We are working collaboratively with our sister societies to make sure that our entire profession acts to promote diversity equity inclusion with a unified voice and synchronized action,” Pochapin said.
Lessons learned
In a year that no one anticipated, Pochapin looked to the good that arose.
“Never before have our professional societies been so needed by our members to provide direction, interpret data and make critically important recommendations in real time,” Pochapin said. “This [year] did not derail my role as a leader, but just the opposite. It provided even more opportunity to serve. ... As clinicians and researchers, we are all called upon to be leaders during this time of crisis.”
He gave the virtual audience some of what he learned during his presidency:
- “Medicine is truly the universal language and protecting our health, a universal goal.”
- “Diversity makes us better. Disparities and structural racism exist and we need to create actual change and do better.”
- “No matter how much we live in a world dominated by COVID, we still all love gastroenterology.”
- “Clarity of message, unity of efforts and frequency of communication are essential to maintain calm and focus and get us through this pandemic.”
- “Health rises above all else and nothing else really matters when our health is at stake.”
- “Like it or not, we were all soldiers in this battle and we will emerge victorious and better for it.”
“And I learned that there is nothing more inspiring than being at the helm of this College and witnessing the greater than 16,000 members working together with the incredible ACG staff and ACG leadership team to care for and protect our patients. Thank you all for the privilege of being your president and representing us at our best when times were at their worst. You inspire me and when we all work together, we can light a torch that illuminates the human spirit of compassion, kindness and resiliency.”
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Pochapin M. President’s Address. Presented at: The American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting (Virtual). Oct. 23-28, 2020.
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