Jefferson offers a highly competitive three-year comprehensive training in gastroenterology and hepatology. We receive hundreds of applications yearly to fill four trainee positions. The program is designed to produce superior subspecialists equipped to pursue academic careers emphasizing clinical research. The Jefferson Gastroenterology & Hepatology Fellowship affords ample inpatient and ambulatory experiences necessary to develop exceptional clinical and endoscopic skills. A clinical or basic science project supervised by a full-time faculty member is an integral component of the fellowship training.
Objectives
Your medical training and the years that you have dedicated to becoming a doctor have provided you with a substantial amount of scientific knowledge and skill. To gain expertise in your chosen field of gastroenterology, further dedication to training in clinical medicine and research is necessary. At Sidney Kimmel Medical College, we offer fellowships in gastroenterology and hepatology emphasizing a distinctive blend of laboratory and clinical training. The major objectives of the program are:
- To provide an optimal clinical setting in all areas within the field of gastroenterology
- To pursue research that links clinical findings with published scientific data and laboratory investigations
- To maintain an active academic curriculum that includes bedside teaching, endoscopic instruction, and a comprehensive gastrointestinal conference schedule
We believe this hands-on combination, together with our respect for the individual's capacity and desire for knowledge, provides an exceptional postgraduate training program in gastroenterology and hepatology. We are proud of our low teacher-to-student ratio, which allows for personalized attention for those who want to learn in a progressive and intensive environment. Our staff of gastroenterologists, hepatologists, and advanced endoscopists holds the impressive credentials and experience required by a major medical center. They share the genuine desire to impart their knowledge and skills to others.
Facilities
Clinical training for the fellowship is primarily located at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, in Center City Philadelphia. Jefferson is a 717-bed acute care facility that serves as a primary and tertiary care hospital for residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley. The educational experience at Jefferson is enhanced by an active cadaveric and live-donor liver transplantation program.
Upper-year fellows also spend a few months at Jefferson Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia. Jefferson Methodist Hospital is a community hospital where Jefferson medical students, residents, and fellows also train - and at which fellows gain additional experience in primary consultative GI and further experience in endoscopy of both inpatients and outpatients.
Structure
The Fellowship Training Program in Gastroenterology is managed by Program Director, Robert Coben, MD and Associate Program Directors, Stephanie Moleski, MD, and Aaron Martin, MD. Throughout the three years of fellowship, fellows rotate through our three inpatient services (general gastroenterology, advanced endoscopy/pancreaticobiliary, and transplant hepatology) as well as a variety of electives. Trainees also maintain longitudinal outpatient gastroenterology and hepatology clinics that are always supervised by full-time faculty. Trainees have ample opportunity to acquire all the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic skills.
- First year: clinical training is divided between inpatient gastroenterology consultation services, ambulatory experiences in both endoscopy and the clinic, and two months of dedicated research
- Second year: rotations through the inpatient gastroenterology consultative services, ambulatory endoscopic and clinical experiences (including a clinic for liver transplantation patients), and three months devoted to research.
- Third-year: research and scholarly activities will comprise the majority of the third year. Fellows can gain additional training in advanced interventional endoscopy, hepatology, motility, inflammatory bowel disease, and basic science research.
- Additional rotations during fellowship include the following:
- Motility: a full month dedicated to working with the Director of Gastrointestinal Motility, Dr. Christopher Adkins in the clinic and in the endoscopy suite where additional skills are gained in EndoFLIP and Bravo placement and interpretation. We have an on-site motility lab with manometry, anorectal manometry, breath testing, and pH impedance.
- IBD: a full month dedicated to learning evaluation and management of IBD patients in the offfice and in the endoscopy suite. Fellows work directly with our dedicated IBD faculty including the Program Director of the IBD fellowship Dr. Raina Shivashankar. We also have dedicated IBD lectures and research lectures.
- Hepatology: outside of the in-depth inpatient experience on our primary and consult transplant hepatology teams, our fellows rotate through a month of outpatient hepatology. At these visits they see patients here for our Fatty Liver Center and the full range out patient hepatology complaints. Fellows also spend time in our outpatient transplant hepatology clinic.
- Advanced endoscopy/pancreaticobiliary: a full month of time spent split between pancreaticobiliary office visits and outpatient procedures being exposed to the clinical management of both routine and complex pancreaticobiliary complaints. Fellows can also work with our Third Space Endoscopy team who sees patients pre- and post- POEM and G-POEM.
- Each trainee is allotted four weeks paid vacation per year. Jefferson supports all trainees with 6 weeks of paid parental leave
Fellows are formally evaluated by faculty on their:
- Clinical judgment
- Medical knowledge
- History taking
- Physical examination
- Procedure skills
- Humanistic qualities
- Professional attitudes and behavior
- Medical care
- Self-motivated learning
- Overall clinical competency
These written evaluations are discussed with the trainees on a regular basis. Fellows also evaluate faculty members on their availability, organization, teaching skills, fund of knowledge, and interpersonal relationships. They also have the opportunity to evaluate the training program's overall quality, diversity of patient population, quality of teaching programs, structure and/or organization of the program, opportunity for and the quality of research experience and preparation for their future career.
