CORE CURRICULUM

The Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Diseases at UCSF Fresno delivers strong, balanced fellows with an extraordinary training experience after being exposed to a variety of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases, both common and complex cases, plenty of procedures, including exposure to advanced therapeutics, and access to train at UCSF main campus.

Fellows spend a majority of time on the inpatient service, where they manage patients and perform endoscopic procedures, and run a team of medical students, interns, and residents. A supervising Gastroenterologist, oversees all procedures, including liver biopsies. They become proficient in managing acute and chronic gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases. While rotating through Transplant Hepatology, fellows participate in the perioperative care of transplant patients, experience medical decision making in both pre- and post-operative cases including immunosuppression, as well as those who are not candidates for transplant.

Didactics include journal clubs, presentations at GI Grand Rounds, Journal Club, Pathology Conference, Radiology Conference, Hepatobiliary Conference, Research Conference, and Morbidity and Mortality Conference.

 

Clinical Training

During their three years, fellows become proficient in gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases, both as an inpatient and outpatient consultant at all UCSF Fresno affiliated hospitals and clinics.  The outpatient clinics includes those who are referred from the community gastroenterologists for tertiary level care and highly specialized procedures and services that aren’t not available elsewhere in the Central Valley.  GI faculty supervises fellows directly in this setting. The UCSF Liver Transplant Program gives fellows the opportunity to be a part of up to date training in one of the leading hospitals in the country. Fellows will actively participate for at least two months of their training devoted to transplant hepatology.

 

Endoscopic Training

UCSF Fresno, being the only tertiary care center in the Central Valley, provides fellows with ample opportunity to perform endoscopic procedures. As each fellow progresses from year to year, he or she focuses more on mastering endoscopic skills, emphasizing on therapeutic endoscopy and  gains exposure to advanced procedures.

 

Research Training

Fellows participate in research activities with a preceptor who provides guidance and instructions on each project. The fellows learn to pursue academic interests and study research protocols, advance their writing skills, scientific knowledge, and have the opportunity to present their work at inter-facility conferences and national meetings. Every fellow is expected to identify a faculty member as his/her research mentor and lay the groundwork for a research project.