Mauricio Pasten, MD
Digestive Surgeon, Bolivian Japanese Institute of Gastroenterology, La Paz, Bolivia; SSAT International Committee Member

How many times have you attended DDW^®?

This is my first year.

What are you hoping to get out of the meeting?

Meet new people and learn more about gastrointestinal diseases. I participate in the SSAT International Committee because I want to know doctors from different regions — how they do surgery and manage patients. I will spend most of my time in SSAT sessions learning new techniques and surgeries for gastrointestinal diseases.

What area of digestive disease research do you find most fascinating?


Image-guided ablations using thermic methods.

Since we’re in Washington, D.C., is there a legislative issue that you feel is critical to the future of patient care?


Free medicine for everybody.

If you could have coffee with one presenter at the meeting, who would it be and why?

Since it’s my first time at a meeting like this, just meeting doctors that make advances in surgery will be great.