Portuguese Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SPED)www.sped.pt

SPED IN 2018

The Portuguese Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SPED) has had a productive year filled with numerous activities aimed at its members. In previous newsletters, the initiatives promoted by the Quality Committee, the Education Committee and SPED Young have already been featured. SPED would therefore like to highlight some other projects that have made us proud in this past year.

Website and newsletter

SPED’s website (http://www.sped.pt) was updated in January and is now easier to explore not only on a computer but also on any tablet or smartphone. Our newsletter, called ENDOnewsletter is delivered monthly to our members and is now one of our primary forms of communication with them.

Endoscopic Image Award

In 2018 SPED organized this award for the first time, awarded to both endoscopic photos and videos. In the first stage the jury selected the 15 best photos and 5 best videos which were later subjected to a vote by our members in SPED’s website. The winner photos and videos can be viewed at http://www.sped.pt.

Grants

The promotion of Education and Research in digestive endoscopy are two of the main objectives of our organization. SPED sponsored 3 trainee members undertaking internships in Portugal (1) and internationally (2). Two grants for research in digestive endoscopy were also awarded. In order to further boost national research in this field SPED decided to open the position of Head of the Research Committee to applications from its members. We are happy that this position has now been filled and that our Research Committee is working toward more quality research in our country.