The Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center was inaugurated in Porto Alegre, Brazil on November 30, 2012, becoming the 15th WGO Training Center devoted solely to liver disease.
Mission:
The Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center mission is:
Teaching - by creating and offering an innovative Liver Focused Medical Education Program to Brazilian and international medical doctors; and
Research - by qualifying young doctors and working coordinately with Brazilian and/or international partners; and
Medical assistance - by increasing and improving specialized liver care to public health system clients in Brazil and abroad.
Facilities:
The Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA)
HCPA is a public hospital, created in 1970, academically related to Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), and affiliated with the Brazilian Ministry of Education University Hospitals. Its' mission is to provide high-level medical assistance to the population, teach students and young doctors from UFRGS and conduct research. The Brazilian Ministry of Education considers HCPA as the model to be followed by other university hospitals in Brazil, based on its quality and efficiency. HCPA is devoted to care for patients from the Brazilian public health system (Sistema Único de Saúde – SUS); it offers now 792 beds. HCPA recently underwent a major renovation that increased its total area by 70%. Researching is an important area in HCPA, coordinated by Diretoria de Pesquisa (DIPE). HCPA has a tradition of encouraging experimental and clinical research, and directly sponsors most of them by its own Research Fund (Fundo de Incentivo à Pesquisa e Eventos do HCPA). Currently, 5 Brazilian Ministry of Sciences and Technology sponsored National Institutes of Health and Technology are located at HCPA.
The Gastroenterology Division at HCPA:
The Gastroenterology (GI) Division is dedicated to adult patients and formed by 6 professors from UFRGS Internal Medicine Department (Mario Reis Alvares-da-Silva, Alexandre de Araujo, Hugo Cheinquer, Antonio de Barros Lopes, Luiz Edmundo Mazzoleni and Rafael Picon) and 7 gastroenterologists and 1 nurse from HCPA staff. HCPA offers 4 government-board recognized Fellowship programs in Gastroenterology, Digestive Endoscopy, Hepatology and Liver Transplant. The Endoscopy Unit, Digestive Motility Laboratory and Adult Liver Transplant Program (since 1996) are part of the Division (Figure 1). HCPA’s Pediatric Gastroenterology Division, Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, Radiology Division and Pathology Division specialized teams often work together with the GI/Liver team. The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Experimental Laboratory is located at the HCPA Animal Research Center, close to the hospital. Nowadays, HCPA GI/Liver Division is the most important university digestive unit in the South of Brazil, displaying a great number of consultations, specialized procedures, and in-hospital admittance. The GI Division faculty has important positions and is recognized both nationally and internationally, with published papers in important journals like The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Clinical Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and Gut, also delivering several talks in top international meetings. Graduate Program in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Sciences (www.ufrgs.br/ppggastro) has the highest grade among Brazilian graduate courses on digestive diseases (Medicine I CAPES) and is closely related to the HCPA GI Division.
Figure 1. Organization of the Gastroenterology Division at HCPA
Hepatology as practiced today at HCPA
Students from UFRGS are regularly received, as well as young medical doctors during their fellowship. The Outpatient Clinic is divided into specialized clinics: Viral Hepatitis, Chronic Hepatitis, Steatosis, Liver tumors, Liver Transplant, and Liver Transplant Recipients. Since 2013 there is an outpatient clinic dedicated to emergency care of liver patients. Since first half of 2014 Liver Elastography is available to our patients. Patients have access to the most advanced drugs commercially available in Brazil as well as investigational drugs as international trials are repeatedly enrolling volunteers at the unit. Endoscopy Unit oversees endoscopic procedures. The Radiology Division is responsible for liver biopsies, diagnostic procedures and interventional radiological procedures, as TIPS and hepatocellular carcinoma intravenous and percutaneous treatment. The number of patients admitted to the Liver Clinic as well as those been followed at the Outpatient Liver Clinic have increased in the last few years as well as the number of liver transplant procedures. Also, patients with liver diseases are often in need to be followed at HCPA Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit. There is a trend in the whole world for liver diseases to increase. We are prepared to face this growth.
Project ECHO™ (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), an educational program in partnership with the University of New Mexico - UNM Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, USA, was officially launched in August 2015 in HCPA. As stated at the ECHO™ website, this Project “breaks down the walls between specialty and primary care. It links expert specialist teams at an academic ‘hub’ with primary care clinicians in local communities – the ‘spokes’ of the model. The clinics are supported by basic, widely available teleconferencing technology. During teleECHO clinics, primary care clinicians from multiple sites present patient cases to the specialist teams and to each other, discuss new developments relating to their patients, and determine treatment.” HCPA is the first liver devoted ECHO clinic in Brazil, counting now 35 spokes from the Federal District and other 15 states, including São Paulo, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais and Acre, among others. Trainees attending WGO Porto Alegre TC can join themselves to the teleECHO clinics.
WGO Hepatology Training Center at HCPA
This innovative WGO TC offers to Brazilian and international medical doctors several courses of different lengths each (from 16 to 480 hours). Modules form each course, and these modules can be continuous or not. Students can choose the duration of the course. Minimal number of students/course: 1. Certificates follow WGO policy as presented at the WGO website.
Areas of Training and Courses Offered:
General Hepatology (Hepatology Master Course)
Viral Hepatitis
Liver Steatosis
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Liver Transplantation
Critical and Emergency Care in Hepatology
Liver Pathology
Liver Elastography
Scheduled special short-duration courses in 2024
Additional information regarding courses can be requested directly to the Training Center secretariat - Mr. Fernando Soares (fsoares@hcpa.edu.br).
Certifications:
Certificates are provided. No fees are required for training.
Applicants can choose a specific course (short duration courses) or apply for an Elective (1 to 4-month duration) on General Hepatology, Viral Hepatitis, Co-infection, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Liver Transplantation, Critical and Emergency Care in Hepatology, Liver Pathology, and Tissue Elastography Course.
Short duration courses are limited to 20 trainees each. Electives are open on an individual basis.
Official language is Portuguese. Electives are available also in English and Spanish.
Trainee Application Process and Requirements:
National and international trainees contact for further information on courses: Interested applicants can contact the HCPA GI Division by emailing fsoares@hcpa.edu.br or phone +55 51 33598307. WGO Porto Alegre Training Center Director can be assessed by email marioreis@live.com.
Regulatory Requirements:
Since regulatory requirements vary accordingly to the course’s length and to the trainees’ origin (national or international), applicants must directly contact the training center for further information.
Contact:
Center Director: Dr. Mário Reis Álvares-da-Silva, MD, PhD.
Hepatologist
Professor Adjunto-Doutor
Departamento de Medicina Interna (Gastro-Hepatologia)
Faculdade de Medicina
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Sala 2033
Porto Alegre, RS
Brasil
Prof. Mario Reis Alvares-da-Silva, MD, PhD
Director, WGO Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center
Head, GI and Hepatology Division
Prof. Alexandre de Araujo, MD, PhD
Prof. Hugo Cheinquer, MD, PhD
Prof. Antonio de Barros Lopes, MD, PhD
Prof. Luiz Edmundo Mazzoleni, MD, PhD
Prof. Rafael Picon, MD, PhD
Associates:
Prof. Dvora Joveleviths, MD, PhD
Prof. Carlos Thadeu Cerski, MD, PhD
Dr. Matheus Michalczuk, MD, PhD
Dr. Roberta Marchiori, MD
Dr. Gustavo Drugg Hahn, MD
Endorsements:
The Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center has been endorsed by:
The World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO)
The Brazilian Federation of Gastroenterology
Further Information:
If you are interested in attending courses or would like information regarding specific course offerings or electives, please contact the Training Center Secretary for this Center at the email address listed above. To view further information about the Training Center, click on the Information Package below.
The below course, Liver Practice for Hepatologists – Brazil/Portugal Colaborative Clinical and Pathological Course, is now available for Portuguese spoken countries. This course is part of the Official Scientific Agenda of the WGO Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center, and is sponsored by the WGO.
Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center faculty and trainees.
Trainees in the Outpatient Clinic
Trainees in the Outpatient Clinic
Training Center Director Mario Reis Alvares-da-Silva and then WGO President Henry Cohen.
The WGO and TSG Training Center.
The WGO wishes to acknowledge the following for their support and sponsorship of the WGO Porto Alegre Hepatology Training Center: Federacão Brasiliera de Gastroenterología (FBG), Merck, Sharp & Dohme, and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre.
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) (Latest Revision Nov. 2023)
