UEG Career Development

Coskun Ozer Demirtas (Turkey), Maarten te Groen (Netherlands), Cem Simsek (Turkey), and Paula Sousa (Portugal) have actively contributed to the coordination of the UEG Career Development in their roles as Young Talent Group (YTG) Members. Lina Aguilera Muñoz (France) and João Cunha Neves (Portugal) have been participating in the programme and value its positive impact on their professional development.

The UEG Career Development
The Career Development programme contains courses that help young GIs to improve their skills, broaden their network and get closer to their ideal job, skillset and lifestyle. It offers exclusive access to useful materials compiled for not only those beginning their career but also for people wanting to further advance their knowledge on a specific topic, such as how to network effectively and how to get into an academic pathway. The initiative is geared towards residents or young specialists in the GI field who are searching for a rewarding career, but it is open to anyone who might benefit from it. Through a robust programme, participants learn skills to grow and own their career path.  

Organisers’ perspective
The Career Development programme is organised by members of UEG’s Young Talent Group (YTG). As young members of the digestive health community, we aim to provide courses on topics that are interesting for all enthusiastic young GIs who want to make the most of their growing careers. As such, we provide courses on both soft skills (e.g. how to empower yourself) and hard skills (e.g. how to write a good original article). These courses have a multilevel schedule, starting with online self-education and ending with face-to-face “meet the expert” sessions in four steps. With this approach, we hope to encourage people to pass through the entire course on an if-need basis at their own pace, since participants can choose whether they only want to do the first one or two online levels or complete the entire course based on their own needs and time schedule. Of course, we hope to motivate people to complete the entire course, since meeting with experts and sharing thoughts is very valuable! Nonetheless, if meetings do not fit in participants’ time schedules, we offer recordings of the webinars on the UEG Career Development website. As the mentoring call is task-based with immediate feedback provided by experts in small groups Zoom sessions (for example, with live assessment of your CV or cover letter, as done in previous courses) you must join live to participate, which provides you with a more personalised experience and full benefits of what the programme has to offer. 

It is a real pleasure organising these sessions, from early brainstorming sessions on the needs of young digestive health community members to the actual meetings with experts in the field. We start developing new ideas almost a year ahead, discussing thoughts and suggestions until consensus is reached. Afterwards, we design the levels and select relevant resources from both literature and UEG’s own library of webinars and papers. Next, we search for relevant experts in the field and contact them to participate in the programme. We take care to select experts who are not only highly-accomplished in their fields, but who also have a passion for developing the next generation. Their generosity in donating their time and expertise is what makes the in-person, interactive elements of the programme so impactful. When participants later provide feedback that they found new motivation, direction, or skills through the programme, it validates all our efforts and energises us as organisers to keep evolving the initiative to better serve young GIs. Our aim is to curate an environment where participants feel empowered to engage, ask questions, and tap into the experts' wealth of experience. As organisers, we find great fulfilment in facilitating meaningful connections between experts and young professionals through the Career Development programme. It is incredibly rewarding to witness the sparks of inspiration, exchange of ideas, and growth that happen when these groups are brought together. It brings joy to see that the Career Development programme is in high demand. Based on these statistics and the feedback from participants, we continuously aim to improve the programme. For example, due to an interest from more senior members of the GI community, we opened the programme to all interested UEG members without age restrictions, and we plan to incorporate more flexibility for the sessions of 2024. By these means, we hope to see even more participants completing all four levels and continue this amazing programme! 

Participants’ perspective – Lina Aguilera Muñoz
For me, the Career Development programme was “the gateway” to discover all the possibilities that the myUEG Community has to offer to young GIs. Since the first course, I endorsed the concept and got excited to finish all the parts that used different teaching tools and proposed interactive activities. I felt that among the subjects addressed, they were practical, and they applied to me in many ways. I think that this programme fulfils the vision of the UEG YTG to reach, to include and to believe in the empowerment of young GIs all around the world, who are sometimes not “seen” in their working or training places. I loved the topics of the courses and the flexible format, easy to access and free for everyone. I think that it is an exceptional opportunity to be able to meet inspiring experts in the field and potential long-distance mentors all over Europe. The final part of each course, with the on-site UEG Week activity of “meeting the expert”, was something to look forward to and I particularly valued it throughout all the courses. This programme allows to widen up your horizons and to give you tools to be leaders in our workplaces, even at the very beginning of our careers. I would like to thank the YTG for this great project and I invite young researchers and young physicians to get involved because I think it can only get better!

Participants’ perspective – João A. Cunha Neves
The UEG Career Development has played a pivotal role in molding the course of my early professional journey. From the outset, the programme's structured and versatile approach provides invaluable insights to all young GIs, emphasising on skill development through targeted workshops. One of the UEG Career Development's standout features is the mentorship component, fostering a supportive environment for personal and professional growth. Another noteworthy aspect of this YTG initiative is its inclusivity – regardless of one's origin or professional background, all that is required to benefit from this exceptional programme is to be a myUEG Associate. Joining the first course on “Writing & publishing – How to write a good original article” proved a crucial asset for my development as a young GI. Progressing from the foundation level, where participants gain access to a wide array of online tools, to the final level, where interactive sessions with experts occur on-site during UEG Week, the programme provides valuable tips and tricks to enhance their skills. Throughout the courses I was also given the opportunity to broaden my professional network, especially during the meet-up at UEG Week. There, I was able to share and listen to some of the other participants and mentors personal experiences and main challenges they have encountered along their paths. As a participant, I believe the UEG Career Development has not only empowered me with a robust set of skills but also connected me to a network that extends beyond the duration of the programme. UEG’s, and in particular the YTG’s dedication to nurturing talent makes this initiative an indispensable tool for anyone aspiring to elevate their career to new heights. I am looking forward to joining the next topics, and I definitely recommend all young GIs and researchers to join this YTG initiative and advance along their career paths!

UEG Career Development Topics in 2024

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