A Fond Farewell from Your 2019 AAGL President, Dr. Marie Fidela Paraiso
It has been a great pleasure serving AAGL as President in 2019 and as Scientific Program Chair and Vice President in 2018. We set a goal of diversifying, unifying and empowering members of our society and I believe that we are well on our way to achieving these goals. The 48th Global Congress in Vancouver was a wonderful success thanks to Jubilee Brown her world class committee, AAGL HQ staff, our talented faculty, participants, and attendees. You all make AAGL shine so brightly. Our intention is to continue with this momentum moving forward!
Now I will proceed with our year in review:
- Our membership is strong and growing to nearly 7500 representing approximately 107 countries around the globe. We have increased our members by 1600 since 2017.
- Our Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology has increased significantly in citations (3808 from 3451 since 2017) and submissions (up by 7.12%), and is #25 in OBGYN Journals and #1 in MIGS.
- Our international outreach remains strong with 49 affiliated societies. We have excellent meetings planned in Verona, Italy with ISSA (July 7-10, 2020), in Bangkok, Thailand with AGES (July 17-18, 2020), and in Mumbai, Indiana with IAGE (September 10-13). Please consider attending and participating in these meetings. Most importantly, we approved and you voted on an additional international representative to the executive board of AAGL.
- Our FMIGS continues to grow with 50 programs, including 2 in Canada, 1 in Mexico, and 1 in Columbia. We have graduated 436 fellows since 2001 with 45 graduating in 2019. This continues to be the most competitive fellowship in OBGYN in the United States.
- EMIG continues to advance with the Didactics (80 learning modules totaling 11 CME hours available soon), Cognitive test undergoing final review and Beta Testing to be completed in 2020, with the Skills test publication, submission, and continued trials. We continue to collaborate with key OBGYN societies.
In closing, I would like to introduce and welcome our new board members: Secretary-Treasurer Mauricio Abrao from Brazil, who is our first member (outside of North America) who will rise to the rank of AAGL President, Nucelio Lemos from Toronto, Stephanie Morris from Boston, Anusch Yazdani from Australia, and Humberto Dionisi from Argentina.
It also is my great pleasure to recognize our outgoing AAGL Board Members for their outstanding contributions to our society: Immediate Past-President Gary Frishman from Rhode Island, Amanda Nickels Fader from Baltimore, Shailesh Puntambekar from India, Jaime Albornaz from Chile, and Jonathan Solnik from Toronto. I had the great opportunity to work with a talented and cohesive board in order to serve the AAGL.
It has truly been a great honor and I thank you all for placing your trust in me. Cheers to all of you and the continued success of the largest Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery society in the world as we work together to elevate MIGS globally and improve care for the patients whom we are privileged to serve!
