The University of Chicago Training Program in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, directed by Dr. David T. Rubin, Assistant Professor of Medicine, offers training across a spectrum of gastrointestinal diseases. The training program provides a broad, practical and scholarly exposure to clinical problems of Gastroenterology as well as in-depth investigative training. Our program has a long and consistent history of graduating physicians that are scholarly clinicians, national thought leaders, as well as prominent laboratory and clinical investigators. Direct and continuous contact with a large, full-time faculty including senior and junior members offers a personal approach to the trainee's educational, clinical and scientific development. The training program utilizes the extensive clinical and laboratory facilities found at the University of Chicago Medical Center and at our affiliate hospital (Weiss Memorial). Because of the University of Chicago's reputation as a top rated referral center and our location in the heart of the City of Chicago, there is a broad exposure to common gastrointestinal conditions, as well as unusual and difficult to manage clinical cases.

The three-year fellowship is fully accredited by the ACGME. The program has considerable flexibility, although all clinical and basic fellows must complete a three-year training period. Fellows in the clinical program will complete a first and second year of intensive clinical work with early focus on an area of special interest. During the first year of training, emphasis is placed on acquisition of endoscopy skills. Most first year fellows spend four months learning and performing upper endoscopy, colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy in a high volume endoscopy unit. These are skilled clinical faculty, with emphasis placed on development of superior endoscopic skills. Second and third year fellows spend 2-3 months per year in this rotation.

Other intensive rotations include inpatient and outpatient Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (3 months first year, 1 month second year, third year elective), Hepatology (2-3 months first year, 1-2 months second year, third year elective) and Nutrition (2-3 months first year, 1-2 months second and third year. All fellows also spend 1-2 months per year at Weiss hospital where they see patients with a full spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders. At Weiss, fellows are an integral part of outpatient clinic care and the inpatient consult services and participate in a full spectrum of endoscopic procedures.

A major goal of the fellowship program is the training of physician-scientists in basic and clinical gastroenterology research. To facilitate this, positions on an NIH funded training grant are available to assure support and time, typically during the second and third year of fellowship for intensive research efforts. The goal of the research track is to prepare physician-scientists for research-based academic careers devoted to advancing basic paradigms of intestinal physiology and pathophysiology.
Clinical fellows will have ongoing clinical and research experiences in their area of interest during the third year of training. Potential pathways for specialty interests include Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Hepatology, Nutrition, General Gastroenterology and Therapeutic Procedures. Participation in Outpatient Continuity Clinic begins in the first year for all fellows.

Minimum requirements for admission to our clinical fellowship program are:

• M.D. or equivalent degree
• Successful completion of an ACGME-certified internal medicine residency program sponsored by a major university
• U.S. citizen, Canadian citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. Due to NIH requirements, individuals who do not meet this requirement cannot be considered for our clinical fellowship program.
• For graduates of medical schools outside the U.S. and Canada, appropriate certification by the USMLE/FLEX