The Rush University Medical Center Sections of Gastroenterology & Nutrition and Hepatology jointly offer a 3 year fellowship in Gastroenterology. This fellowship provides a strong emphasis on clinical training in gastroenterology and hepatology with a significant exposure to clinical research through faculty mentorship.

The program provides 30 months of clinical training in gastroenterology, hepatology and endoscopy based in both inpatient and outpatient settings using both academic and community hospitals. 6 months of protected research time is provided and is spaced out over the 3 years of training to allow fellows to incept and complete clinical research projects under the guidance of faculty mentors. The clinical years are spent mostly at Rush University Medical Center with 1-2 months per year spent at our affiliated institutions; Rush North Shore hospital and Rush Oak Park hospital.

A few of the current areas of faculty research interest include inflammatory bowel diseases (pathophysiologic mechanisms at the membrane level, new cytokine therapeutic options, alternative therapeutic options), endoscopic techniques (management of endoscopy negative dysphagia, utility of endoscopic ultrasound in pancreatic diseases states, evaluation of newer endoscopic modalities for the treatment of reflux), hepatitis (new combination therapies for treatment of hepatitis B and C, quality of life assessments in patients with active hepatitis C), management of peptic ulcer disease (evaluation of long term treatments of symptomatic GERD, the validity of assessing prolonged acid exposures in those with symptomatic GERD). Many other research opportunities exist at Rush. Fellows have also initiated and carried out research projects of their own design.

Rush is unique in that it offers a tuition free Masters degree program in clinical and outcomes research sponsored by our department of Preventative Medicine. This program runs concurrently with the last two years of the fellowship and culminates in a Masters degree in preventative medicine. This additional training will allow a fellow to develop a high degree of expertise in the conduct of clinical research and makes them superbly suited for an academic career in gastroenterology.

The outpatient exposure for fellows at Rush is significant with fellows staffing general gastroenterology and hepatology clinics but also specialty clinics in liver transplant, functional bowel diseases, inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatic diseases.

10 gastroenterology and 5 hepatology faculty staff Rush. We have 9 fellows, 3 per year of training. Our endoscopic labs are supplied with the latest Olympus equipments and fellows have access to training in all the standard endoscopic procedures as well as more advanced procedures such as therapeutic ERCP, EUS, video capsule endoscopy, esophageal, small bowel and anorectal manometry, prolonged pH monitoring by telemetry and endoluminal therapies for GERD. Rush is one of the Midwest’s most active liver transplant centers providing the trainee with expertise in the pre- and post-operative management of those with advanced liver disease.

Conferences are a vital part of the training program at Rush and include, gastroenterology grand rounds, GI and liver pathology conferences, a fellow’s didactic conference, liver transplant conference, journal club, research conferences and medical-surgical conference. Both fellows and attendings present at these meetings with discussion and interaction greatly encouraged.

As a tertiary referral center ranked in the top 40 in the nation we see a wide variety of gastrointestinal and hepatologic illnesses which allows for a broad base of exposure to pathology for our fellows. This is seen at both the inpatient and outpatient levels.

In summary, Rush University Medical Center offers the resident seeking training in gastroenterology & hepatology an unparalleled training experience. Our commitment to providing the best in patient care and in clinical research training is reflected in the skill and dedication of both the faculty and the fellows who complete our program.

Michael D. Brown, M. D., FACP, FACG
Fellowship Program Director