Greetings from the President

Greetings from the President of the Japan Society of Coloproctology 　　The Japan Society of Coloproctology 　　President Michio Itabashi

 　The purpose of this Society is to improve research, education, and medical treatment of colorectal medicine by its member physicians and others, and thus contribute to the health and welfare of the nation.

　To achieve this purpose, the Japanese Society of Anoproctology was founded in March 1940, mainly by proctologists, and was renamed the “The Japan Society of Coloproctology” in September 1966, which is its current name. The Society has grown by bringing together members from a wide range of fields, including surgery, proctology, internal medicine, pathology, and radiology. Specific activities include holding scientific meetings for research presentations and academic lectures by members, organizing educational activities such as educational seminars, and publishing the journal (10 issues per year in Japanese and 4 issues per year in English), guidelines, and other books. The English-language journal has successfully obtained an Impact Factor, an internationally recognized index for journals. In addition, our Society joined the Japanese Medical Association in June 1987, and two years later, in 1989, we were one of the first to start the certification system for specialists in colorectal diseases. 2014 saw the establishment of the Japanese Medical Specialty Board and the start of the new specialist system in April 2018. Unfortunately, however, the certification of specialists in colorectal disease has not yet been granted, as it is to be considered by the Council of Subspecialties, which will be established by the Japan Surgical Society. We recognize that this is an urgent issue and will work together with the relevant board members to promote certification. 
　On the other hand, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on our activities, forcing us to cancel international exchanges and other activities, but we have been able to return to holding regular scientific meetings since November 2022. We look forward to achieving further growth in the future, and will thus encourage the development of young doctors and female members. We would also like to increase the number of members of our Society by making our activities more appealing.

　There are many expectations for our Society, including educational activities for patients and the general public, and support for new drugs and technologies. We will work together with the government and other related societies to meet those expectations.