Bridging the Atlantic: Reflections on Our First AAGL-ESGE Virtual Congress
There are moments in the life of an organization that feel genuinely historic — not because someone declared them so, but because you sense it in real time. June 6, 2026, was one of those moments for AAGL.
Our first-ever joint virtual congress with the European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE) brought together 195 live attendees from 44 countries, with an additional 354 registrants who will access the on-demand content — spanning 58 countries in total. Nearly 300 surgeons from both sides of the Atlantic joined us for a single day of science, conversation, and shared purpose. That, in itself, is remarkable. But the numbers, as always, tell only part of the story.
The theme — Transatlantic Exchanges: Shaping the Future of MIGS — was not marketing language. It was a genuine statement of intent. Across five parallel sessions and ten hours of programming, AAGL and ESGE faculty sat side by side — virtually speaking — to tackle the subjects that define our specialty: pelvic anatomy in the era of innovation, endometriosis from simple to complex, gynecologic oncology and minimally invasive surgery, advances in urogynecology, the great robotic debate, imaging for MIGS, and the emerging frontier of neuropelveology. In each room, an AAGL chair and an ESGE chair shared the table. That pairing was not incidental. It was the whole point.
What struck me most was how much we have in common — and how much we still have to learn from each other. Our European colleagues bring perspectives forged in different healthcare systems, different training pathways, and different patient populations. Hearing how ESGE faculty approach endometriosis excision, or how they think about fertility preservation in the context of endometrial cancer, challenged and enriched our own thinking. Scientific exchange is only meaningful when it crosses boundaries, and on June 6th, it did exactly that.
I want to offer my personal congratulations to the ESGE leadership — particularly Dr. Benoit Rabischong and Dr. Ertan Saridogan, two of the most gifted gynecologic surgeons and surgical educators in Europe today, whose vision and partnership helped turn a conversation in Salerno two years ago into a reality on screens around the world. When we first discussed this idea, it was not a certainty. The fact that we made it happen, and made it happen well, is a credit to the commitment of both societies and to the faculty who gave their time and expertise so generously.
I also want to thank the extraordinary behind-the-scenes team — Linda, Roman, Seth, and Kathy — whose technical execution made a complex, dual-society, dual-continent virtual event feel seamless. For a first edition, it was nothing short of excellent.
This is the beginning, not the end. AAGL has always seen itself as a global society, and this congress is proof of what that means in practice. The future of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery will be written collaboratively — across oceans, across traditions, and across perspectives. I cannot wait to see what we build together next.
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