Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Gastroenterology Training Program at the Brigham and Women's and Faulkner Hospitals and the Harvard Medical School. The mission of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Gastroenterology Fellowship Program is to train physician-investigators and future academic leaders in Gastroenterology.
The gastroenterology fellowship program, which is under the leadership of Dr. Frederick L. Makrauer, is integrated with the VA Boston HealthCare System and the Faulkner Hospital, for which the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) serves as the parent institution. The gastroenterology staff of the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (an HMO) at the Brigham also participate in our teaching program. Some of the formal gastroenterology teaching activities are conducted jointly with the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Children's Hospital Boston (CHB) and the Harvard School of Public Health, thus providing our trainees with exposure to a wide range of clinical material and an array of qualified senior staff gastroenterologists with varied interests and specialized research and clinical expertise.
Please note that you have a choice of applying to one of two distinctive tracks: the Basic Science Research Track , in which training in the laboratory is emphasized; and the Academic Clinical Research Track, in which training in clinical research methods is provided.
We are participating in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Once you have completed your application and are ready to select Brigham and Women's Hospital as the institution to which you are applying, please indicate to which of the two program tracks you are applying: Basic Science Research or Academic Clinical Research (please note you may only choose one track ).
Our program participates in the National Fellowship Matching Program ("The Match") and is listed under "Reseach Track".
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DEADLINE DATE: Applications must be completed in ERAS no later than January 31, 2009 *; however, earlier application is strongly encouraged.
* Applicants should note that the GI Division of Brigham and Women's Hospital will participate in the Gastroenterology Match program for the 2010 Fellowship application cycle.
NOTE: Foreign citizens must have a permanent resident visa to qualify for funding in our Basic Science Research Track.
PLEASE READ!!--Partners Policy regarding USMLE Completion for residents
Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Program
During the first year of training, the emphasis is on clinical gastroenterology/hepatology in the broadest sense. The year includes rotations at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (7 months), Faulkner Hospital (3 months) and the VA Boston Healthcare System, West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain campuses (2 months). Clinical training includes gastrointestinal radiology, nutrition and pathology, and training in a variety of diagnostic and related therapeutic endoscopic procedures: upper endoscopy, variceal band ligation and sclerotherapy, esophageal dilatation, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement, control of upper GI bleeding, pneumatic dilatation for achalasia, extraction of foreign bodies, diagnostic sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, polypectomy, dilatation of strictures, therapy for hemorrhoids, gastrointestinal motility studies, and liver biopsy. The clinical service at Brigham and Women's Hospital averages 100 consults per month, the service at the Faulkner Hospital averages 60 consults per month, and the services at the West Roxbury Veterans Administration Medical Center average 40 consults per month. A rotation at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital (an affiliate of Faulkner Hospital) provides additional training in liver disease, liver biopsies and gastrointestinal manifestations of AIDS. Each trainee can expect to perform at least 200 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies, 150 colonoscopies, and to participate in all of the aforementioned specialized procedures. Each trainee also sees patients in an outpatient continuity clinic for all three years.
Consulting rounds are made on a daily basis with the gastroenterology faculty. Formal conferences include a 60-minute weekly clinical conference involving the three teaching institutions of the Harvard Medical School area including the BWH, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Boston (Combined Gastroenterology Conference); a monthly liver histopathology review session in CPC format; a monthly research seminar held jointly with the Harvard Digestive Diseases Center; a weekly didactic conference in lecture format that focuses on all areas of clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology; a monthly medical/surgical conference; a weekly Endoscopy Center conference including quality assurance; and a weekly conference that includes in rotation journal club, CPC, liver disease and basic research. Other conferences include radiology and inflammatory bowel disease programs. The Division also has an active visiting scientist program. Our trainees play a major role in the teaching of house-staff and Harvard medical students at the hospitals through which they rotate.
Basic Science Research Track
The Basic Science Research Track fellowship is designed specifically for fellows who desire a career in basic laboratory research and are prepared to make a major commitment to basic scientific research.
During the second and third years of the Basic Research Track, which are funded through our NIH Institutional Gastroenterology Training Program or individual NIH Fellowships, the emphasis is on rigorous scientific training in laboratory research, with limited clinical responsibilities (i.e., fellows participate in one weekly outpatient continuity clinic initiated in year one and the procedures related to that clinic) and a subspecialty clinic. In addition, Basic Research Track trainees participate for approximately two weeks per year on the inpatient consult service. Trainees are expected to initiate, organize and conduct their own experiments in the laboratory under the guidance and close supervision of a preceptor within the Division or the Harvard Medical Area. Because of the proximity to, and close ties with, the basic science departments at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, trainees will have the opportunity to develop projects and to receive training in a variety of basic disciplines, utilizing molecular and cell biological, biochemical, physiological, biophysical, physical-chemical or immunological techniques. The Brigham and Women's Hospital, together with the Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Boston and Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital, has been designated as a Digestive Diseases Center by NIH and is the recipient of a Digestive Diseases Center Award. This Center facilitates close interaction and collaboration among investigators with interests in the digestive and hepatic-pancreatico-biliary systems in these institutions. Research interests of the faculty at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the VA Boston HealthCare System vary widely but all of the laboratories share equipment and expertise and interact closely in a collegial atmosphere. The Division also has been designated as a Center for Autoimmunity, which, together with the Dermatology and Neurology divisions, is funded to study autoimmune diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
The following members of the academic research faculty, who participate in the Gastroenterology Training Program, provide a wide scope of research activities in virtually all of the major scientific disciplines.
Richard S. Blumberg, MD
Martin C. Carey, MD, DSc
David E. Cohen, MD, PhD
Raj K. Goyal, MD
Timothy Kuo, M.D.
Hiroshi Mashimo, MD, PhD
Chinweike Ukomadu, MD, PhD
Zhenglun "Jerry" Zhu, MD, PhD
OTHER SELECTED PROGRAM FACULTY
David Beier, M.D., Ph.D. (Department of Genetics, BWH)
Richard Maas, M.D., Ph.D. (Department of Genetics, BWH)
Thomas Roberts, Ph.D. (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
Charles Serhan, Ph.D. (Department of Anesthesiology, BWH)
Cox Terhorst, Ph.D. (Department of Immunology, Harvard Medical School)
Academic Clinical Research Track
The Academic Clinical Research Track fellowship is designed specifically for fellows who desire a career in academic gastroenterology and are prepared to make a major commitment to clinical research. The first year of the program is identical to our basic research program with clinical rotations at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Faulkner Hospital, Veterans Administration Hospitals and Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, and a continuity clinic, which continues for three years. There are 17 full time clinical faculty members at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, six at the Faulkner Hospital, six affiliated with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and five at the Veterans Administration hospitals. In addition, all of the faculty members listed above under the basic research track play an important role in teaching the academic clinical fellows.
The first two months of the second year are spent at the Harvard School of Public Health. The curriculum includes two months of biostatistics and epidemiology, and one month of two of the following four courses: decision analysis, ethics, policy and management, or health policy. For the remainder of the year it is expected that the fellow will identify a mentor, initiate plans for projects in clinical research, and apply for research funding. During the second year, fellows participate in the continuity clinic and may also participate in a series of sub-specialty outpatient clinics. During the second year, there are brief rotations on the inpatient consult service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which includes major responsibilities for teaching first-year fellows, house staff and students.
The third year is devoted to clinical research under the supervision of a mentor from the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Faulkner Hospital or Veterans Administration Hospital. Fellows continue the third year of their continuity clinic and continue to participate in a weekly sub-specialty clinic. In addition, time is made available for fellows to continue to take courses at the Harvard School of Public Health with a view to obtaining a Master’s degree in Public Health.
Peter A. Banks, MD
Robert Burakoff, MD, MPH, FACG, FACP
David L. Carr-Locke, MD, FRCP, FACG
Stephen J. Drewniak, MD
Sonia Friedman, MD
Norman D. Grace, MD
Norton J. Greenberger, MD
Richard S. Johannes, MS, MD
Edward A. Lew, MD, MPH
Linda S. Lee, MD
Frederick L. Makrauer, MD
Daniel S. Matloff, MD
Muthoka L. Mutinga, MD
Marcos C. Pedrosa, MD MPH
John M. Poneros, MD
Ewa M. Preneta, MD
Amir A. Qamar, M.D.
Sarath I. Reddy, MD MPH
John R. Saltzman, MD
Elihu M. Schimmel, MD
Benjamin N. Smith, MD
Elena M. Stoffel, MD, MPH
Sapna Syngal, MD, MPH
Christopher C. Thompson, MD
Jerry S. Trier, MD
Stephen C. Wright, MD
We hope the information provided will be useful in your evaluation of our comprehensive program. We appreciate your interest and look forward to receiving your application.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DEADLINE DATE: Applications must be completed in ERAS no later than January 31, 2009 *; however, earlier application is strongly encouraged.
NOTE: Foreign citizens must have a permanent resident visa to qualify for funding in our Basic Science Research Track.
For more information on the Basic Science Research Track or the Academic Clinical Research Track contact
Kate Fitzgerald, (617) 732-5824
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