Curriculum

First Fellowship Year

The emphasis of the first year is acquiring knowledge and clinical skills in gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition.

Fellows participate in rotations on the Gastroenterology Inpatient Unit, the Hepatology Inpatient Unit, and the Consult Service. Fellows have four weeks of elective time during the first year. During these weeks, fellows can select from a host of specialty elective programs, including Liver Transplant Clinic, Hepatology Clinic, Intestinal Rehabilitation Clinic, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic, Cystic Fibrosis Clinic, Eosinophilic Esophagitis Clinic, and Aerodigestive & Motility Clinic. Additionally, interested fellows can gain exposure to specialized procedures in ERCP, endoscopic ultrasound, and motility studies. Fellows also have two research elective weeks during the first year in order to explore potential research options and mentors for their focused academic endeavor.

Continuity Clinics

The outpatient clinics provide the Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellow with the unique opportunity to follow a cohort of patients longitudinally. Special efforts are made to provide a variety of patients with chronic and acute gastrointestinal, hepatic, and nutritional disorders within each fellow’s clinic. Fellows, under the guidance of a clinic mentor, are primarily responsible for the care of their patients. During this weekly clinic, fellows develop their clinical skills and emphasize the importance of continuity of care. A support team consisting of dietitians, psychologists, and nurse practitioners provides the fellow’s clinic with comprehensive and integrated care for each patient.

Procedures

The fellowship program benefits from an active therapeutic endoscopy program with a busy endoscopy suite, which in 2021 completed 3,192 procedures. The overall volume of our practice ensures that all fellows will be competent and proficient in core procedures such as upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, polypectomy, esophageal dilatation, rectal suction biopsy, and therapies for gastrointestinal bleeding, including banding, sclerotherapy, cautery, and clips. Fellows also have exposure to gastrostomy tube placement, esophageal impedance monitoring, pneumatic dilatation, esophageal manometry, anorectal manometry, capsule endoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, balloon enteroscopy, and endoscopic ultrasound.

Specialty Electives

Many opportunities exist to participate in electives during fellowship training. Selected electives outside of the core requirements may require approval by the Fellowship Training Director. Electives at other academic institutions are also available but require the additional approval of the Division Director and the Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics.

Second and Third Fellowship Years

Fellows will focus on a basic science project or clinical project during the subsequent 2 years of fellowship to meet the ACGME requirements for a scholarly activity. For basic science projects, emphasis is given to experimental design, acquiring laboratory skills, and understanding the pathway for success as a physician-scientist. For clinical investigation, emphasis is focused on the development of skills for a successful career in patient-oriented research. Both areas emphasize acquiring skills in scientific presentation, writing abstracts and manuscripts, and grant development. Research mentorship is not confined to the Pediatric Gastroenterology Division but may come from other areas at UTSW and our affiliate centers to suit the interests of the fellows.

There are several training tracks within our program:

Clinical Track
This track is geared toward fellows who wish to become academic clinicians as well as clinical educators and develop expertise in a specific area within gastroenterology. After the first year, the fellow will have the opportunity to focus on a particular clinical area such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatobiliary diseases, therapeutic endoscopy, motility, nutrition, cystic fibrosis, or liver disease. The fellow will engage in a clinical research project within that area of interest and work to develop the specialized skills in the selected field.

Cystic Fibrosis Track
This unique track is designed to provide an environment enriched in opportunities to develop CF-related research for a fellow interested in CF care and research. Both a pediatric gastroenterologist and a pediatric pulmonologist provide the leadership of our CF Center. Several active research programs on campus are focused on aspects of CF, including nutrition, hormones, role of neutrophils, lung disease, and new and novel therapeutics correcting the genetic mutations involved in CF. This track offers the opportunity to apply for a CF Foundation Fellowship grant to support both clinical and research endeavors throughout fellowship and beyond.

Research Track
This track is aimed to train fellows to become independent physician-scientists in gastroenterology, nutrition, or hepatology. After the first year of clinical rotations, the fellow will focus on a specific area of basic research under the guidance of an established UTSW faculty member and scholarship oversight committee. Although most of a fellow’s time will be devoted to laboratory research in this track, the fellow will continue to care for patients in the weekly outpatient clinic.

National Meetings and Training Grants
All of our fellows are encouraged to submit and present their research at local, regional, and national meetings. Many of our fellows have presented both poster and oral presentations and have received multiple awards and financial support for their research activities.

The fellowship program is supported by several training grants, including:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32, in conjunction with our adult GI colleagues
• Departmental NIH NICHD-sponsored K12 award
• Disease-Oriented Clinical Scholars (DOCS) program
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-sponsored Clinical Fellowship training grant

The program also has reserved fellowship slots for M.D./Ph.D. candidates as part of the Department’s Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) in Pediatrics (PSTP2). The PSTP2 allows qualified candidates to receive training in pediatrics at UTSW and Children’s Medical Center for two years followed by clinical and research training in the Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship program. The program also fosters transition to a junior faculty appointment through several ongoing support mechanisms.

Contact Us

Mailing Address

UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Center
2350 North Stemmons Fwy., Suite F4500
Dallas, TX 75207
Phone: 214-456-0117
Fax: 214-456-8006