Why become a member?

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie (DGCH, German society of surgery is the mother society of all German surgical societies. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie (DGAV) is the main professional society for all general and visceral surgeons in Germany.

For you, the DGAV attends to the further development of general and visceral surgery through active participation in committees and through direct contacts for establishing special visceral surgery advancements such as surgical endoscopy, coloproctology, surgical oncology, visceral surgery intensive care medicine and minimally invasive surgery as specialties recognized in advanced training programs. 

The working groups of the DGAV offer you the possibility to actively contribute to specific topics in visceral surgery. The postgraduate courses of the DGAV provide high-standard certified advanced training. The courses are recognized by medical associations within the framework of Continuing Medical Education. 

As a member, you are entitled to free admission to the Deutsche Chirurgenkongress [German surgical congress] as well as to visceral surgery advanced training events, especially to the conferences of the working groups. As a member of the DGAV, you have the opportunity to influence the quality assurance activities of the society, as in e.g. the establishment of competence, advanced training and reference centers.

The DGAV awards the Rudolf Nissen Prize and the Walter Kausch Medal, both every two years. The society also awards travel grants to young visceral surgeons.