Fellowship Program
Gastroenterology Fellowship
Anil K. Rustgi, MD
Chief of Gastroenterology
David A. Katzka, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director,
Gastroenterology Fellowship Program
Jonathan P. Katz, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Associate Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship Program
The Division of Gastroenterology (GI) of the University of Pennsylvania is a premier program that is committed to excellence in patient care, education, and research. The training program, originally founded in 1929 by T. Grier Miller, M.D., has played a major role in training academic gastroenterologists throughout the world. The University of Pennsylvania offers a combined training program in Gastroenterology, incorporating the resources at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), and the VA Medical Center. The combined program provides access to approximately 1,500 hospital beds with outstanding faculty, fellows, and housestaff. The GI division has modern research facilities for state-of-the-art studies in molecular and cell biology, genetics, immunology, physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry. In addition, there are outstanding clinical research programs in epidemiology, inflammatory bowel disease, GI oncology, viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, upper GI motility and physiology, among others.
The fundamental goal of the GI division fellowship program is to train fellows for eventual careers in academic medicine as physician-scientists with a focus in basic science, epidemiology/health services or patient-oriented research. Graduates of the fellowship program have done extremely well in acquiring academic faculty positions and NIH grants.
Training Program
Fellowship applicants may apply for a basic science (click here for more information about basic science departments at the University of Pennsylvania) or cclinical epidemiology and health services (clinical epidemiology outcomes, decision analysis, health care economics. Click here for more information on the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics or the Leonard Davis Institute) training position. The first year of clinical training is the same for all tracks. The basic science research program provides 2-3 years of NIH-sponsored, laboratory research. The clinical epidemiology research program provides for 2-3 years of NIH-sponsored training to obtain a Master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Core Curriculum
First Year
While the majority of time is at HUP, services exist at PPMC and the VA. While at HUP, the fellow will be dedicated to hepatobiliary disease patients, including the evaluation of patients undergoing liver transplant, and on a service which involves digestive tract diseases in the areas of oncology, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatology upper GI disorders, and GI hemorrhage.
At each of the hospitals, the fellow is the primary consultant under supervision, and has responsibility for participating in and directing the care of all clinical gastroenterology problems at that institution. Patients are seen daily with a designated service attending. Fellows are responsible for performance of all endoscopic procedures on their patients. Students and residents may be assigned to work with the fellow during this period. Considerable responsibility is given to the fellow to function as a consultant and asume leadership of the inpatient services. Emphasis is placed upon acquiring a broad fund of clinical knowledge, critical appraisal of the literature, and acquisition of skills in diagnosis and management of GI diseases.
The clinical training in the first year is supplemented by interrelated didactic conferences:
- Clinical Journal Club
- GI Pathology
- Clinical Case Conference
- GI Grand Rounds
- Subspecialty Conferences (liver, GI motility/physiology, inflammatory bowel disease)
- Fundamental pathophysiology and clinical lectures every summer
- Outpatient GI Clinic Conference
- Course Reading List
NIH-Sponsored Basic Research Track
The Program Director, Dr. Anil K. Rustgi, oversees this NIH Training Program. He is assisted by an Executive Committee and individual trainee research committees.
Research faculty from the GI division and basic science departments are selected based upon experience with trainees, independent and externally funded laboratories, and relevant projects in digestive and liver disease. The faculty have been grouped by research interests:
- Developmental biology and genetics
- Immunobiology and host responses
- Cancer biology
Outstanding trainees with MD or MD/PhD degrees enter the Program from the Medicine and Pediatric GI Fellowship Programs after being selected through a nationally competitive application process. A small number of PhD postdoctoral fellows are also eligible.
It provides the faculty, scientific resources, and intellectual environment for trainees to pursue basic science research in gastroenterology.
NIH Sponsored Clinical Epidemiology Track
The Program Director, Dr. James Lewis, oversees the NIH Training Program. The Division of Gastroenterology, the Leonard Davis Institute (LDI), and the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine developed an innovative research training program for physician clinical researchers in gastrointestinal epidemiology. The objective of the program is to train individuals who have completed their training in a relevant medical specialty (eg, general internal medicine, gastroenterology, hepatology, or general surgery) to be rigorous and independent acaemic investigators able to use the range of approaches available in gastrointestinal epidemiology to address research issues in gastroenterology, hepatology prognosis, prevention and early detection, treatment, or clinical economics.
The three year training program consists of required courses in clinical gastroentrology, research methodology, and biostatistics; elective courses, extensive independent readingsm and attendance at and participation in research seminars at the Division of General Internal Medicine, LDI, the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), and the Gastroenterology Division; and the completion of an independent research project in gastrointestinal epidemiology. Specifically, the program is designed to:
- Provide an in-depth knowledge of the research techniques appropriate to clinical gastroenterologic research
- Provide research eperience with mentors in general internal medicine and gastroenterology
- Bring together faculty and fellows through participation in seminars in the Division of General Internal Medicine, LDI, the CCEB, and the Gastroenterology Division
Fellows are candidates for a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) degree.
Outpatient Clinic
All fellows have continuity clinic throught the fellowship under the auspices of faculty members. There are weekly conferences devoted to outpatient diagnostic and management issues. Additionally, fellows participate in specialized clinics to complement their research interests and projects in the second and third years
The Gastroenterology Core Curriculum {pdf}
Program contact information
Fellowship Program Director:
David A. Katzka, MD
Email:
GIFellowship@uphs.upenn.edu
Fellowship Program Associate Director:
Jonathan P. Katz, MD
Email:
GIFellowship@uphs.upenn.edu
Fellowship Coordinator:
Nancy Wells
1 Founders
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: 215-615-1677
Fax: 215-615-1688
Email: GIFellowship@uphs.upenn.edu