ACGME Gastroenterology Fellowship

One of the greatest strengths of the GI Fellowship at UCSF is the robust clinical experience. Fellows in the Clinical Educator track are exposed to the basic general GI curriculum in the first year of fellowship and can refine their educational experience in the second and third year of training to emphasize exposure to advanced rotations including advanced therapeutics, liver transplant and inflammatory bowel disease.

The focus of the clinical track is on clinical gastroenterology and hepatology. Fellows in this track are engaged in a number of clinical rotations during their second and third years including Liver Transplantation (Moffitt-Long), the advanced endoscopy rotation where fellows learn ERCP and have exposure to endoscopic ultrasound and other advanced procedures such as endoscopic mucosal resection, enteral stent placement or deep enteroscopy (Moffiit-Long and Mission Bay), Center for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (Mt. Zion), and serve as the senior fellow at SFGH and SFVA. Fellows participate in a number of teaching responsibilities including organizing case conferences at respective sites, teaching first year medical students during their GI/Liver block and giving an annual grand rounds presentation. In addition to their clinical duties, fellows in the clinical track are expected to engage in scholarly activities. Fellows receive protected time for research through a combination of month-long blocks and dedicated days within clinical rotations. Research projects can be in either gastroenterology or hepatology and cover a broad range of areas including clinical research, patient safety, quality improvement, or projects related to medical education. At the beginning of the second year all fellows are encouraged to enroll in the introductory methods for the Advanced Training in Clinical Research course to augment their skills in clinical research.

The UCSF GI fellowship program participates in the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) pilot program to integrate formal, competency-based Transplant Hepatology training into the 3-year GI fellowship program. The pilot program has the approval of ABIM and ACGME and graduates will be eligible to take both GI and Transplant Hepatology ABIM board certification examinations after 3 years of training. Fellows matched to the clinical educator track are eligible for this program and apply during the first year of fellowship. Up to one fellow per year may enter the program. This pilot program is separate from but analogous to the 1-year Transplant Hepatology fellowship offered after the completion of the full 3-year GI fellowship.

The focus of the research track is to have fellows intensely pursue their research for two to three years. The goal is to train physician-investigators and equip them with the skills to secure research funding after their fellowship. Fellows entering this training pathway are expected to compete for extramural research funding soon after the completion of fellowship and to enter academic careers devoted primarily to investigation. Research time during the research training pathway will be primarily funded by the division’s GI and Hepatology NIH sponsored T32 training grants. Fellows may pursue basic science research or clinical research. Prospective investigator trainees are required to identify a mentor and area of research during their first 8 months of fellowship, and obtain approval for research support from the division’s training grants. During the second and third years, research track fellows will have 18 months of protected research time. During this time fellows can engage in basic science courses and conduct laboratory research, or they can participate in clinical research and obtain a Master’s Degree in Clinical Science through the Advanced Training in Clinical Research program. The remaining 6 months will be devoted to clinical activities.