The Tamil Nadu Chapter of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology (TNISG) was initially founded in 1971 as the Southern Chapter of Gastroenterology by Dr N Madanagopalan, Dr V Mathan and Dr Baker. This laid the foundation to the TNISG which is one of the most vibrant and active chapters of the ISG. The annual ISG meetings have been held in Tamil Nadu in Ooty (1973), Chennai (1985), Chennai (2003) and Coimbatore (2011). There have been landmark events conducted under the TNISG banner which were conducted under the leadership and guidance of Dr K R Palaniswamy and Dr V Balasubramaniam. In 2011, the Train The Trainer programme, a flagship training programme conducted by the World Gastroenterology Oraganisation (WGO) was conducted for the first time in south east Asia in Chennai and was a grand success. Another first was the World Congress of EUS held in 2014 for the first time in Asia under the TNISG.
The TNISG chapter has conducted rural programmes to educate the public on common GI disorders. These programmes are conducted across the state on the same day by various members of the TNISG. In addition various public awareness programmes have been conducted to create awareness of common GI problems. Multicentre studies have been conducted successfully across the state over the last 3 years. The first study was on rodenticide poisoning and subsequently a guideline on the management of the same has been published. The second study was one of the largest study on IBD in the Southern India. The third multicentre study was on demography of colorectal cancer in Tamilnadu.
The Tamil Nadu Chapter has been a strong proponent of academics and Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of Gastroenterology fellows. The monthly meeting of the chapter is held every month and consists of 1 hour session of presentations carried out by the Gastroenterology trainees followed by a talk and discussion on various topics. Once in 2 months a virtual meeting is held for the benefit of fellows and physicians across the state. Faculty from all over the country as well as international faculty have been invited to deliver guest lectures. In addition, an annual and midterm meeting is held bi-annually and has received praise and recognition for its content.
The TNISG received the best chapter award in the year 2024 at the annual ISG conference in Bengaluru, for its academic excellence and commitment.
