Elective

Gastroenterology-Hepatology

Learn about the common problems encountered in diagnosing and managing diseases in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology.

You will perform histories and physicals on patients on whom the gastroenterology service at your hospital is consulted, present those patients to the attending and maintain new and follow-up consult notes.

You will provide differential diagnoses for a variety of conditions, with particular emphasis on identifying conditions that are immediately life-threatening or which require immediate intervention.

You will not be required to perform procedures, but will be encouraged to observe procedures performed on the patients you follow.

Conditions Seen

You will learn to demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care including but not limited to:

  • Esophageal Disorders
    • Swallowing, dysphagia
    • GERD
    • Achalasia
    • Pill-induced and corrosive injury of esophagus
    • Barrett’s esophagus
    • Esophageal cancer
  • Stomach Pathology
    • Gastritis
    • Peptic ulcer disease and H. pylori
    • Gastric cancer
    • Gastroparesis
  • Liver and biliary tract disorders
    • Viral hepatitis
    • Autoimmune hepatitis
    • Primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis
    • Alcoholic liver disease and drug-induced liver disease
    • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
    • Vascular liver disease
    • Ascites
    • Liver abscess
    • Liver masses
    • Gallbladder: stones, sludge, polyps
  • Pancreatic disorders
    • Acute pancreatitis
    • Chronic pancreatitis
    • Pancreatic cancer
  • Small and large bowel disorders
    • Celiac disease, Whipple’s disease
    • Crohn’s disease
    • Ulcerative colitis
    • Bacterial overgrowth
    • Colorectal cancer and colon cancer screening
    • Constipation
    • Diarrhea
    • Diverticulitis
    • Colitis: pseudomembranous, microscopic
    • Upper GI bleeding
    • Lower GI bleeding
    • Occult GI bleeding
    • Intestinal ischemia
    • Irritable bowel syndrome
    • Foreign bodies and the GI tract

Care Team

The team consists of a gastroenterology fellow, one or more medicine residents, and at times, fourth-year medical students, all of whom are supervised by a gastroenterology attending.

Didactic Conferences

You will be expected to attend didactic in-house lectures which take place from 4 to 6 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in Room 803C at the Buffalo VA Medical Center.

Years Taken

  • PGY-2, PGY-3 or PGY-4

Length of Rotation

4 weeks

Clinical Sites