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Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Department of Medicine

Fellowship Curriculum

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine is a three-year ACGME-accredited program with 18 months dedicated to clinical training and at least five months dedicated to faculty-mentored research.

The comprehensive clinical curriculum provides fellows with rigorous training in gastrointestinal, pancreaticobiliary and liver diseases, including an extensive endoscopy experience. Additional electives in areas such as gastrointestinal motility, endoscopic ultrasound, advanced gastrointestinal radiology, pediatric gastroenterology or gastrointestinal pathology are available.

a group of physicians consult together in the hospital during rounds

Inpatient Experience

Fellows are trained at the teaching hospitals of the IU School of Medicine—Indianapolis campus: Indiana University Health, Eskenazi Health and the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center. Fellows spend approximately one-third of the training period in each setting, gaining clinical experience in endoscopy and as an inpatient gastroenterology consultant. In addition, dedicated hepatology rotations are conducted at IU Health.

a fellow at work in the clinic

Outpatient Experience

Training for fellows includes one half-day per week of continuity clinic at Eskenazi Health or the VA Medical Center. Fellows gain exposure to a variety of common gastrointestinal disorders and work with diverse populations. Throughout training, fellows participate in dedicated outpatient clinics for inflammatory bowel disease, motility disorders, pancreaticobiliary diseases and liver diseases, including pre- and post-liver transplant clinics. 

Moe Rahal Standing with His Poster at ACG 2022 Conference

Research Experience

With more than 40 faculty as potential mentors, several opportunities are available for clinical or basic research throughout fellowship training. Suitable fellows interested in a research career may enroll in a four-year clinical investigator fellowship track, which includes at least 24 months dedicated to research.

Fellows may conduct translational research on topics such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and drug hepatotoxicities.

Fellows may conduct clinical studies on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, pancreatic-biliary manometry, endoscopic ultrasound, colorectal neoplasms, alcohol and hepatitis C-related diseases, inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal motility disorders.

Fellows may conduct bench research on alcoholic liver disease, the genetics of alcoholism, expression of liver-specific genes, studies on biliary epithelial biology, and clinical pharmacology related to the liver and gastrointestinal tract.

Conferences

Gastroenterology fellows participate in didactic activities each week. These include Grand Rounds, Journal Club, gastrointestinal clinical case conferences, multidisciplinary conferences, transplant hepatology conferences, pancreaticobiliary conferences, mortality and morbidity conferences, dedicated pathology conferences, a clinical guidelines series and a gastrointestinal curriculum board review series. In addition, fellows attend national conferences and are encouraged to participate in a gastrointestinal board-review course.

Advanced Training

In addition to the three-year fellowship program, the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology provides advanced training in Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS). Availability for the program is limited to one or two positions each academic year. For more information regarding the advanced biliary-pancreatic endoscopy training, please contact program director Jeffrey Easler, MD. Advanced training positions in hepatology or motility are not currently open for applicants; support and funding may become available intermittently.