ESS Secretariat

First Chair and Department of General & GI Surgery, Medical College
Jagiellonian University

40 Kopernika St.
31-501 Cracow

tel. +48 (12) 424 80 07
fax +48 (12) 424 80 07

e-mail: info@essurg.org

European Society of Surgery: Aims and Goals

The European Society of Surgery has two principal aims. The first is to foster relations and encourage the exchange of information between surgeons of the West of Europe and the less developed Eastern countries of "new Europe". Since its first meeting in 1997, the Society has hosted ten Annual Meetings in countries of both Western and Eastern Europe, attended by up to 500 surgeons. This has led to the development of closer ties between academic departments, the holding of skills workshops and visits by Board Members to Eastern countries to demonstrate surgical techniques and set up education links. In these respects the Society can claim to have had great success in its mission.

The second principal aim of the Society is to continue to actively support the discipline of General Surgery, as it is practised by the majority of surgeons in Eastern countries where sub-specialisation has not yet taken place. At our Annual Meetings, the attendee will therefore find a range of subjects discussed, which are applicable to continuing medical education for a surgical practitioner working in a regional hospital.

It is with pride that the ongoing development within our Society has enabled positions on the Board to be taken by Members from Eastern countries whose Departments of surgery have now developed to a level equal to that of their counterparts in the West.

Andrew Kingsnorth
August 2007

The European Society Of Surgery (E.S.S.)

The European Society of Surgery was the brain child of a number of visionary surgeons, led by Professor Sergio Stipa (University La Sapienza, Rome) who in the early 1990's felt that there was a need to integrate surgeons from the emerging Eastern European countries, many with an enviable surgical heritage which had been somewhat sublimated due to political and other reasons, into the surgical culture of Western Europe.

The goal of the Society as stated in its constitution is "the advancement of the art and science of surgery" with a mission to promote scientific, academic and clinical surgery of a high calibre. The Society in particular wished to encourage and promote interchange of ideas, both clinical and scientific, between East and West. Some thirty countries are represented in the Society with a wide spectrum of representation from Western, Eastern and Central Europe and the Mediterranean.

The First General Assembly of the E.S.S. (1997) was convened by Prof. Sergio Stipa (President, Italy) and Prof. Robin Williamson (President elect, U.K.).

The members of the First E.S.S. Board who undersigned the official statues of the Society on 3rd December 1999 were:
Carlo Faber (Luxembourg), Luc Michel (Belgium), Joachim Muller (Germany), Tadeusz Popiela (Poland), Sergio Stipa (Italy) and Robin Williamson (U.K.).

The legal seat of the Society was initially in Luxembourg (1999 - 2007) and was later transferred to Krakow, Poland (December 2007). At the General Assembly held in Krakow in 2000 it was decided to officially register the European Society of Surgery in the European Union as a non-profit organisation.

While the Society elects its President every year the General Secretary is responsible for the ongoing business of the Society. The first General Secretary was Steen Jenson (Denmark, 1996 - 7). He was followed by the charismatic Luc Michelle (Belgium, 1997 - 2005) who managed the Society's affairs for almost a decade until he handed over to Andrew Kingsnorth (U.K., 2005 - 6). In 2007 Jan Kulig (Poland) assumed this responsible position.

The Presidency of the E.S.S. and the Annual Congress.

At the first A.G.M. in Rome in 1997 it was decided to elect a President of the Society on a yearly basis. The incumbent President would be responsible to call and organise the Society's board meetings and the annual congress. Over the years the ESS has greatly benefited from the enthusiasm and energy of its active successive Presidents.

The Annual Congress traditionally takes place in the President's home town. These Annual Meetings have served the society well as they have provided a wide platform for the interchange of ideas and surgical knowledge and have fostered friendship between surgeons from all over Europe and beyond. The opportunity is taken to organise on site workshops which are very well attended. Leading guest European and American speakers are invited to deliver state-of-the-art lectures. An AGM is held during these meetings to discuss the Society's affairs and to elect Board members. To date the following Annual Meetings have been held: