Education & Training

Welcome to the Education & Training Hub

As the leading society in coloproctology in Europe, the goal of ESCP's Education Committee is to deliver and expand high-quality, contemporary education for colorectal surgeons, and allied healthcare professionals, in training and practice. The committee aims to educate to the highest standard across Europe. The key aims of the committee are fulfilled by:

Creating an educational portfolio at the ESCP annual meeting
Developing internet-based educational resources on the website
Actively disseminating interactive educational content to members across Europe
Creating a year around educational platform, the European School of Coloproctology

ESCP Education Committee 2019

The Education Committee organises several training and teaching activities every year, including the following:

Educational Sessions during ESCP's Annual Meeting

Many educational sessions are organised during ESCP annual meetings, targeted towards technical skills, decision-making and clinical judgment. These sessions are accessible for all attendees of the annual meeting and include interactive workshops, ultrasound seminar, expert video sessions, authors’ workshop, and expert round table session.

For a more detailed overview of the educational sessions that took place at ESCP 2019, view the programme.

Pre-Congress Workshops

'Hands-on' workshops, introduced for an additional day in advance of the annual meeting, to teach practical and technical skills on different topics in colorectal surgery have been a successful and appreciated addition.

2016 workshop: perianal fistulae, including anal plugs, VAAFT, LIFT and advancement flaps
2017 workshops: TAMIS; abdominal wall reconstruction; anal fistulae; haemorrhoidal disease
2018 workshops: prevention and repair of parastomal hernia; AIN and HRA
2019 workshops: Advances in Fistula Surgery; AIN and HRA for Colorectal Surgeons; Operative Techniques for the Prevention and Repair of Parasomal Hernia, TAMIS and NEW for 2019 Vacuum-assisted Management of the Open Abdomen and Anastomotic Leaks and Colorectal Robotic Surgery.

More detail on our 2019 hands-on workshops

Free Student Registration for the Annual Meeting

Complimentary registration is provided for up to 50 students at the annual meeting of the ESCP in September.

Fellowships and Training Opportunities

Every year the society offers the opportunity to apply for several funded fellowships, including:

Robotic six-months fellowship
three-months fellowships
three-months fellowships focussing on Functional Disorders
two-week observerships
pre-congress placements
three reciprocal travelling fellowships with the American, Japanese and Korean colorectal societies

The Fellowship Programme was reinvented for 2018 and now includes online applications.

More information on ESCP fellowships

Resource Library

The ESCP website accommodates new educational content. Members have access to the electronic version of 'Coloproctology, the European Manual of Medicine'. The second edition launched in 2017 and is accessible to members for free. The content of the manual will serve as the backbone for the educational resource and will be linked to various other ESCP resources, such as meeting presentations and keynote lectures. In addition, members have full access to most presentations and video material of the annual meeting as well.

Visit the resource library

ESCP App

ESCP launched their own app which allows access to the latest ESCP news and resources at the touch of a button. The app will also serve as the conference app for all ESCP meetings so be sure to download now! Search you app store for ESCP.

ESCP Masterclasses

After the first ESCP masterclass (a combined effort between ESCP and ECCO) in Moscow in April 2015 at the International Congress of the Russian Association of Coloproctology, the concept of regional masterclasses has developed further. The aim is to offer teaching modules to national societies. Masterclasses have taken place in 2016 in Katowice, Poland. in 2017 Almeria, Spain and Budapest, Hungary. In 2018 Stockholm, Sweden and Rome, Italy.

To read reports of previous masterclasses click here

An ESCP Masterclass on Reoperative Colorectal Cancer took place in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday 13 April 2019 in connection with the XV11th Turkish Colon & Rectal Surgery Congress. A further Masterclass is Scheduled for 1 November 2019; please stay tuned for further information.

More about ESCP masterclasses

EBSQ Coloproctology Examination

This ESBQ (European Board of Surgical Qualification) examination, leading to the only available certification in coloproctology within Europe, is organised during the annual meetings of the ESCP and during several national meetings.

The implementation of the UEMS EBSQ Coloproctology Diploma as the officially ESCP recognized European certification in coloproctology is now in place. Subsequently those holding the diploma are called fellows of the ESCP and those without the diploma are called members. All pre-2015 members are called fellows.

The curriculum for the ESBQ Coloproctology examination has been revised and is aligned with the content of the European Manual of Medicine Coloproctology and the website of the society.

More about the EBSQ coloproctology examination

New Technology Appraisal

A cooperation on the evaluation and implementation of new technology started in 2016 together with the New Technology Committee of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) and led to the creation of a survey among ESCP and ASCRS members and fellows on the implementation of new technology. The results of this survey were presented at the Tripartite Meeting in Seattle and at the ESCP meeting in Berlin.