American Gastroenterological Association

4930 Del Ray Avenue
Bethesda, MD

3016542055

About American Gastroenterological Association

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is a non-profit specialty medical society dedicated to serving as an advocate for its members and their patients; supporting members’ practices and scientific needs; and promoting the discovery, dissemination, and application of new knowledge, leading to the prevention, treatment, and cure of digestive diseases. The AGA was established in 1897 and currently consists of over 9,000 gastroenterologic physicians and scientists throughout the world engaged in clinical practice, research, and education. The Association has several special interest groups focusing on intestinal disorders; biliary disorders; pancreatic disorders; esophageal, gastric, and duodenal disorders; gastrointestinal oncology; motility and nerve-gut interactions; growth, development, and nutrition; hormones and receptors; and immunology, microbiology, and inflammatory diseases. The Association’s membership is dedicated to preventing digestive diseases and improving the health and quality of life of people affected by such diseases; generating and disseminating new scientific knowledge to serve as the intellectual basis for gastroenterology; establishing, enhancing, and sustaining the importance of gastroenterologists in providing high-quality, cost-effective care; fostering intellectual and social diversity within the AGA and the subspecialty; and promoting the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the field of gastroenterology. The AGA’s goals include serving as the nation’s primary advocate for gastroenterology to the medical and scientific communities, policy makers, payers, and society in order to promote digestive health; serving as the leading source of clinical and scientific knowledge and information about gastroenterology for gastroenterologists, other health care providers, scientists, and society; and providing gastroenterology clinicians with the resources to help them successfully manage their practices and affirm their importance as health care providers. Additional goals include supporting the discovery of new knowledge leading to the prevention, treatment, and cure of digestive diseases through funding of research and career development in research; increasing domestic and international membership and participation; ensuring an appropriate supply of well-trained specialists in gastrointestinal (GI) medicine; and enhancing the ethnic, gender, and professional diversity of scientists and others in the field of gastroenterology and the membership of the AGA. The Association’s activities include working to increase support for biomedical research and scientific training in gastroenterology from members of Congress, federal agencies, and other health care associations; hosting postgraduate and board review courses, an international conference, and several symposia annually; and providing a variety of professional publications including a monthly scientific journal, a monthly member newsmagazine, practice guidelines, manuals, a core curriculum and self assessment in gastroenterology and hepatology, a postgraduate CD-ROM course, slide kits for undergraduate and postgraduate lectures, and community outreach slide presentations on different GI conditions. The AGA also publishes patient education materials written in easy-to-understand terminology including a series of brochures and videotapes on a variety of common GI disorders.