EBMed, a nonprofit educational organization, dedicates itself to improving gastrointestinal (GI) patient care through continuing medical education (CME). Additionally, EBMed helps advance the academic GI careers of women and underrepresented minorities through mentorship and sponsorship opportunities. It also holds the Great GI Debates.
The Great GI Debates is a hybrid meeting that mixes CME with networking and mentoring events for GI fellows, internal medicine residents, GI advanced practice providers (APPs), and early-career gastroenterologists. The CME part focuses on inflammatory bowel disease, esophageal disorders, motility disorders, a GI approach to obesity management, and endoscopic innovation.
Participants will find that the Great GI Debates facilitates career development through networking opportunities, coaching, and mentoring. The event focuses, in particular, on women and underrepresented minorities in academic gastroenterology. The event’s first edition took place over two consecutive days and included a variety of interactive educational formats. Participants could witness debates between senior faculty, case presentations by early-career faculty, and field leaders' talks on integrating clinical trial data with clinical experience. Aside from industry-specific sessions, participants can attend presentations about mentoring, patient advocacy, improving diversity in the workplace, and more.
In 2024, the Great GI Debates took place on April 20 and 21, focusing on inflammatory bowel disease, esophageal disorders, and GI motility disorders. Key topics discussed included pouchitis management, facilitating diversity in GI, optimizing abdominal pain relief in irritable bowel syndrome, and managing short bowel syndrome. Additionally, the event included sessions on guideline updates for Helicobacter pylori management and fecal microbiota for recurrent Clostridium difficile. Notable speakers included Dr. Marla Dubinsky, Dr. Bincy Abraham, Dr. Aline Charabaty, Dr. Prakash Gyawali, and Dr. Joseph Sleiman. Dr. Philip Schoenfeld opened and closed the conference and served as a moderator for debates and Q&A sessions.
The 2025 edition of the Great GI Debates will take place Feb 28 to March 2 at The Diplomat in Hollywood Beach, Florida. Registration for the event has opened on September 1, 2024. As with the previous edition, the 2025 Great GI Debates will continue to offer a robust program designed to develop the knowledge and careers of attendees through a blend of CME and mentoring opportunities. Attendees can expect more engaging debates on GI topics, insightful case presentations, and the chance to network with leading experts and peers in the gastroenterology field.
EBMed's board of directors has decades of experience developing CME GI educational initiatives, social media outreach, and patient advocacy. EBMed focuses on inflammatory bowel diseases, esophageal disorders, GI motility disorders, obesity management, and endoscopic innovation.
Dr. Philip Schoenfeld, MD, founded EBMed and serves as the Chairman of the Board and Chief (Emeritus). Dr. Schoenfeld has become a prominent gastroenterologist figure, serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Evidence-Based GI, a monthly online publication of the American College of Gastroenterology. The publication summarizes the best clinical GI research published in major medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and the Lancet.
Moreover, Dr. Schoenfeld served as Chief (Emeritus) of the Gastroenterology Section at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. He has significantly contributed to the field with hundreds of research studies, editorials, book chapters, commentaries, and abstracts. He has co-authored several American College of Gastroenterology guidelines, including those on irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, and colorectal cancer screening. His editorial experience includes roles with Gastroenterology, the American Journal of Gastroenterology, and the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.
