The gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville is designed to provide a broad educational experience leading to the development of expertise as a consultant in digestive diseases. The fellowship program consists of a total of six fellows, two in each of the three years.

The first year primarily entails inpatient clinical responsibilities on the consultative services at UF Health Jacksonville. While on the gastroenterology consult service, the fellow is part of a team that includes a gastroenterology attending and often a medical resident. The team is responsible for performing gastroenterology consultations for patients on the medical and surgical services. The duties of the fellow include the supervision and direction of the service, and the instruction of the house staff and students in basic aspects of gastroenterology. The fellow is supported by full-time faculty members who serve as resources for any questions, problems, or procedures that are required, day or night. The program is structured to develop strong bonds between the fellow and faculty members, resulting in the best possible teaching and patient care.

Fellows obtain extensive experience in diagnostic and therapeutic upper and lower endoscopic procedures. Emphasis is placed on the appropriate application of endoscopy, as well as attainment of technical skills. A series of didactic lectures are presented by the gastroenterology fellows and faculty on approaches to basic gastroenterology problems (i.e., GI bleeding, peptic ulcer, jaundice, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis, etc.), which serve as an introduction into the subspecialty.

In the second and third years of fellowship, there is less emphasis on inpatient rotations. There is ample opportunity to perfect the endoscopic skills and acquire familiarity with advanced endoscopic techniques, such as luminal stenting, endoscopic mucosal resection, radiofrequency ablation, ERCP and EUS. There is a liver consultation experience where the fellow is part of a team, including a faculty member and possibly a medical resident, which performs consultations on patients with liver disease on the medicine and surgery services.

The second and third years of fellowship also allow for more time to pursue scholarly activities that are a mandatory part of the program requirements. These may include participation in research projects, presentations at national gastroenterology meetings and journal publications. Each fellow is required to align him/herself with one of the faculty members and participate in research on a topic of joint interest, as well as quality improvement and patient safety projects.

During the second year of training, each fellow spends two blocks at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on the liver transplant rotation. This rotation allows for an intensive and in-depth experience in the care and issues related with hepatology, liver transplantation and immunosuppression.

As ambulatory medicine is an important part of gastroenterology, the fellows are assigned to various clinics throughout the fellowship training. Each fellow is assigned to his/her continuity clinic one half day per week. The fellow is primarily responsible, with the supervision and support of an assigned faculty member, for the management of patients within their continuity clinic. There is also a specialty clinic for the hepatology patients in which fellows rotate to enhance their clinical experience.