Gastroenterology Fellowship

Training

Our program is highly competitive. We typically receive more than 400 applications each year for two available positions, and we invite the top 10 percent of applicants to interview.

We offer a wide variety of sub-specialty training with highly competent experts in the field. All graduates since 1989 have passed the Gastroenterology Board examination on their first attempts.

We participate in the pilot program for concurrent GI and transplant hepatology training. Six months of scholarly activity/research is required for all fellows.

The third year is tailored to maximize exposure in the fellows area of interest. Training in advanced endoscopy is offered as an option in the third year. We have endoscopy simulators available in the clinical simulation department that are used to introduce and practice endoscopic techniques.

Download fellowship handbook

Rotations

Our typical rotation schedule is illustrated below. The distribution of rotations is correct, but the precise months of the rotations are subject to change.

Procedures

Our fellows receive training in advanced treatment procedures for a wide variety of gastrointestinal and liver disorders.

Procedures fellows are exposed to include:

• Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, including dilation of strictures and percutaneous gastrostomy, endoscopic ultrasound and therapeutic endoscopy, including ERCP, interventional EVS, stenting

• Small bowel endoscopy

• Colonoscopy, including polypectomy

• Clinical and endoscopic management of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, including the use of cautery, clips and bands

• Performance and interpretation of esophageal manometry and pH testing

• Capsule endoscopy

Conferences

We believe everything the fellows do should contribute to their education and preparation for practice. As the major referral center for North Texas and surrounding states, we have a large patient base with both common and rare conditions.

We have several conferences each week to allow reflection on what each fellow is seeing. These include:

• Journal club

• Morning report

• Grand rounds

• M&M

• Case conference

• Technical conference

• A didactic lecture series for the fellows to cover the scientific basis of gastroenterology over three years

On a less-frequent basis, we have:

• Research conference

• Pathology conference

• Evidence-based medicine conference

• Hepatology didactic conference

• Clinical conferences organized by the IBD Center, Esophageal Diseases Center, Oncology Service and Advanced Endoscopy Interest Group

Research

During the first year, fellows are encouraged to begin to develop a research project for the second year with the assistance of a mentor engaged in research activities. The proposal is written and submitted to the Institutional Review Board for Human Subject Protection, so fellows may begin work on the project without delay.

The bulk of scholarly work (library research, research studies and writing) is done during the next six months, and a paper reporting the research is submitted for publication during the third year. Fellows are encouraged to submit the research work in abstract form to national meetings for presentation.

Fellow projects have been published in Gastroenterology, The New England Journal of Medicine and PLOS ONE, among other journals.

To see recent publications by our fellows, download the fellowship handbook.