Clinical Training

Inpatient Clinical Exposure:

·   Inpatient service training: Our program has TWO 1st year fellows and they split the daytime service weeks (M-F) for the year.  They are paired with an inpatient GI service attending for the week.  They provide a primary service for children with a variety of GI conditions including inflammatory bowel disease.  (Our IBD patient population is among the largest in the country.)  They also care for children with liver disease and are paired with a primary liver service attending. 

Endoscopy Training Volume is Among the Highest in the Country:

During endoscopy training weeks, first year fellows are embedded in the endoscopy suite to meet patients with all types of medical problems. Fellows will work with our multidisciplinary endoscopy team including:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology Faculty

• Pediatric Anesthesia

• Endoscopy Nursing

• Child Life Specialists

Common procedures performed across our unit include:

• Upper endoscopy

• Colonoscopy

• pH/impedance probe placement

• Wireless pH probe placement

• Colonoscopic polypectomy

• Esophageal manometry

• Anorectal manometry with rectal suction biopsy and botulinum toxin injection

Our 1st year fellows complete >400 endoscopic procedures during their first year placing them among the HIGHEST in the country. They are exposed to a wide range of endoscopic and advanced procedures including:

Continuity Clinic Pushes You to be the physician:

Each fellow has one half-day continuity clinic per week. The goal is that patients see the fellow as their physician for their care (with support from their faculty preceptors (rather than fellows seeing patients that are scheduled with faculty). This allows for ideal continuity of care and have the fellow and the patient/family drive the decision making.

Features of our clinic include:

• Consistent faculty preceptors (all named "Top Doctors" by Boston Magazine)

• Balance between common GI problems (e.g. constipation, GERD) as well as specific diseases (e.g. celiac disease, EoE, IBD)

• Each clinic has a first year fellow paired with a second year fellow and third year fellow to facilitate fellow peer mentoring

Centers of Excellence

Our fellows all rotate through our Multi-disciplinary Clinics as part of our Centers of Excellence:

• Center for Celiac Research & Treatment is dedicated to improving the quality of life for patients with celiac disease, while learning the cause of the disease and finding a cure.

• Center for Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Interventional Endoscopy  provides both diagnostic and interventional procedures in a state-of-the-art pediatric endoscopy unit.

• Pediatric Nutrition Center  focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to treat children with nutritional issues, in particular feeding difficulties and overweight or obesity. The programs integrate state-of-the-art resources with compassionate and comprehensive care.

• Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center  provides multidisciplinary clinical care for the most challenging pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Through population studies, the center is engaged in clinical, translational and basic science studies in the immunological and the genetic basis of the disease.

• Food Allergy Center provides unified multidisciplinary consultation among specialists in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pulmonary, Psychology, as well as adult and pediatric allergists. This multispecialty collaboration facilitates outstanding clinical and basic science research opportunities.

• Liver Transplantation  an integral part of the Mass General Transplant Program, it provides coordinated, multidisciplinary long-term care to pediatric patients before and after organ transplantation.

• Pediatric Neurogastroenterology and Motility Program  provides a multidisciplinary team approach aimed at restoring nutritional status and improving bowel function in children with a variety of congenital or acquired intestinal problems

• Pediatric Aerodigestive Center combines the expertise of multiple medical sub-specialties, including Pediatric Otolaryngology, Gastroenterology and Pulmonology in the coordinated assessment and management of children with disorders involving the airway and swallowing.

• Pediatric Liver and Biliary Disease Center   provides clinical care for infants and children with liver disease and supports a very active teaching and research effort.

• Lurie Center for Autism  is a multidisciplinary program designed to evaluate and treat children, adolescents and adults with a wide variety of conditions including autism and autism spectrum disorders, Asperger syndrome and developmental delays. It is the clinical arm of the Lurie Center for Autism, which also has research, advocacy and training programs.

• Adolescent and Pediatric Weight Center  provides advanced, comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for both children and adults. Also an NIH funded, clinical and basic research center.

A typical schedule for our first year fellows is shown below (as they split the year between being the "Procedure Fellow" and the "Inpatient Fellow").