At Digestive Disease Week^® (DDW) 2019 in San Diego, CA, DDW commemorated its 50th year as the premier meeting in gastroenterology, hepatology and surgery. Nearly 14,000 attendees helped us celebrate over four days of networking and world-class education that featured 813 original sessions (oral and poster), 4,229 posters and 291 exhibitor booths.

You can relive some of the best moments from the meeting in the slideshow below.

Even though #DDW19 has concluded, the education doesn’t end. Here are a few ways to stay up to date:

• A comprehensive online digital library of presentations is available for all DDW 2019 registrants.  Visit watch.ondemand.org/ddwlogin and enter your badge number and the email address you used to register for DDW 2019. You will be prompted to create a password. On subsequent visits, go to watch.ondemand.org/ddw and enter your email and password.
• Browse news.ddw.org to read the latest updates from the meeting, watch video interviews and catch up on the best social media posts.
• Watch for our email survey and share your opinions about DDW. Please take the time to complete the survey and help us make DDW even better the next 50 years.

Next year, DDW heads back to McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. The meeting is May 2-5, a couple weeks earlier than DDW 2019.

Meeting planners will start planning DDW 2020 very soon and will analyze what worked and what didn’t work this year. The post-meeting survey is always taken seriously during the planning process, noted DDW Council Chair Grace H. Elta, MD, AGAF, FASGE, who encourages all attendees to complete it.

“Every year, I’m always surprised that our four-society meeting planners come up with innovative programming to top the previous year’s meeting. Our goal is always to make it the best digestive disease meeting in the world,” said Dr. Elta, who will serve as DDW Council Chair for the final time at DDW 2020. Dr. Elta will be succeeded by Loren A. Laine, MD, AGAF, from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Dr. Laine will serve as chair-elect in 2020 before taking the reins as chair of the DDW Council.

Returning to Chicago means being surrounded by famous architecture, an amazing culinary scene and great culture. It’s a convenient location that’s easily accessible and has a lot to offer attendees from around the world. Don’t miss the award-winning restaurants and Chicago’s signature dishes, especially the famous deep-dish pizza and Chicago-style hotdogs.

“Take some free time out and see the museums,” advised Dr. Elta. “There’s a lot of cool shopping in Chicago and a lot of culture. It’s a fun city.”