Education

Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology:
EDUCATION

The division’s fellowship program, directed by Patrick Northup with Brian Behm serving as assistant director, offers up to four general gastroenterology fellowships a year, as well as a one-year fellowship in transplant hepatology. The program is designed to produce consultant gastroenterologists who have mastered the cognitive and technical skills of a wide range of diagnostic techniques in gastroenterology as well as hepatology and nutrition. About one-third of graduates choose to pursue careers in academic medicine, and those with community-based practices are often involved in teaching.

Fellows assigned to the Digestive Health inpatient service receive over 100 consult requests a month and supervise daily care of patients with GI and/or liver maladies. The service encompasses two patient care units and facilitates interaction of medical and surgical teams caring for patients with GI and liver disorders. The inpatient service is staffed by four teams of internal medicine housestaff, a luminal and hepatology attending, and three GI fellows, a structure that allows for outstanding care in a cost-effective.

During 2013-2014, the division’s fellows were:

Third Year

• Justin Crocker
• Arushi Defonseka
• Zachary Henry
• Bezawit Tekola
• Dushant Uppal

Second Year

• Andrew Copland
• Amy Rubin
• Sean Rudnick

First Year

• Amy Doran (from George Washington University Hospital)
• Darius Jahann (from University of Miami)
• Charles Orton (from UVA)
• Jonathan Stine (from Georgetown University)

Gastroenterology fellows regularly present their research at academic and professional conferences; for example, in October 2013 fellows Neil Shah and Jeffrey LaFond gave a poster presentation on “The Natural History of Non-Splanchnic Venous Thromboembolism In Cirrhosis: A Single-Center Review” at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting in San Diego.

Continuing medical education is offered annually through the division’s UVA Annual Conference of Liver Disease and Gastroenterology, now in its ninth year. Taught by Gastroenterology faculty members and headed this year by Neeral Shah, the May 2014 conference had 135 registrants from 14 states, along with fellows and residents from nine UVA training programs.

The division’s Coagulation in Liver Disease meeting began in 2005, with an international symposium organized by Stephen Caldwell and held in Charlottesville. Four subsequent meetings have been held and international collaborative research efforts are underway to explore issues related to bleeding and thrombotic disorders in liver disease patients. The 5th International Symposium, co-organized by division faculty and colleagues at the University Hospital of Padua, was held in Italy in September 2013, and was the largest thus far with 150 registrants from the U.S. (including those from UVA), Europe, North and South America and Asia, and with at least eight different medical specialties represented.