Fellowship Training Program

The Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Fellowship Training Program of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center is a 3-year gastroenterology fellowship offering vast clinical and endoscopic experience. Gastroenterology fellows rotate through four hospitals, each with its own full-time staff of digestive diseases experts, and participate closely with the 10 voluntary attending staff who play a role in their education.

During the fellowship experience, gastroenterology fellows:

1. Share patient-care responsibilities
2. Attend instructional sessions dealing with the basic and applied science of gastroenterology and liver diseases
3. Participate in daily morning conferences ranging from core GI/Liver topics given by faculty members, to GI/Liver journal clubs, pathology conferences and case conferences
4. Actively work on research projects under the preceptorship of a GI and Liver Diseases faculty member
5. Attend regular outpatient clinics
6. Participate in a weekly clinic devoted to the care of patients with liver diseases

In the second and third years of training, gastroenterology fellows:

1. Receive instruction in more advanced endoscopic procedures, including ERCP, endoscopic ultrasound, and motility
2. Assume responsibility, under the supervision of the site directors, for running the Gastroenterology Consultation Services at Jacobi and North Central Bronx Hospitals
3. Participate in a liver transplant service
4. Pursue specific interests in Gastroenterology during elective time

The Einstein Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases is responsible for providing consultative care to inpatients throughout Montefiore Medical Center and outpatients visiting the Montefiore gastroenterology and liver subspecialty clinics.

Fellows are supervised in all of their activities by both full-time and voluntary attending physicians. The attending staff consists of both full-time and voluntary physicians, all of whom are board certified in both gastroenterology and internal medicine, and four of whom have certificates of added qualification (CAQ) in transplant hepatology.

Lectures, Conferences, and Grand Rounds

Each week there are approximately 13 hours of scheduled formal teaching. This includes daily morning conferences with one of the full-time faculty, and attending rounds to discuss management of the patients on the consultative service.

GI/Liver grand rounds are held weekly with additional teaching conferences on GI radiology, liver biopsy interpretation, journal club and difficult case management.

Clinical Experience

Each year, Einstein GI/Liver Diseases faculty physicians perform approximately 10,000 diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures on inpatients and outpatients in Montefiore’s GI Endoscopy Suite. The GI Endoscopy Suite includes:

• two fluoroscopy rooms
• motility laboratory
• endoscopic ultrasound
• argon plasma coagulator equipment
• pre- and post-procedure rooms
• full range of support facilities
• capsule endoscopy

All endoscopic procedures, including all emergency procedures, at Montefiore are performed by a gastroenterology fellow and a supervising physician.

Fellows also may take part in the activities of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, a fully staffed training program in pediatric gastroenterology and liver diseases.

Teaching Responsibilities

Members of the Division of Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases, including fellows, participate in the education of the Einstein medical house-staff and medical students.

Director: Donald Kotler, MD

Einstein Division of Gastroenterology fellows provide consultative care to inpatients at Jacobi Medical Center and to outpatients visiting the Jacobi gastroenterology clinic. Gastroenterology fellows’ work is supervised by four full-time faculty members.

Lectures, Conferences, and Grand Rounds

As on the West Campus, there are approximately 13 hours of formal teaching each week including:

• daily morning conference with one of the full-time faculty
• daily attending rounds with a full-time or a voluntary attending
• radiology conference held in conjunction with members of the Department of Radiology
• pathology conference conducted by faculty from the Department of Pathology
• grand rounds

Clinical Experience

Each year, Einstein Division of Gastroenterology fellows perform approximately 2,000 diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures, including ERCP and endoscopic ultrasound, on inpatients and outpatients at Jacobi Medical Center. All procedures are performed under faculty supervision.