Skip to content

Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship

Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship

Apply NowContact Us
The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a three-year, ACGME-accredited program that admits three fellows per year.

Jump to topic

Search

Program Details

The goal of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship is to equip fellows with the appropriate skills to allow them to excel in a career path of their choice. The program is designed to provide training in patient management, procedural skills, teaching and research. A strong clinical experience, managing both inpatients and outpatients with gastrointestinal and liver disorders, is provided.

Topics covered include:

Endoscopy

  • Dedicated rotations in the endoscopy suite.
  • Competence in general endoscopy with exposure to therapeutic endoscopy
  • Liver biopsies
  • Esophageal and anorectal manometry

GI Consultant Service

  • Rotation on GI Consultant Service throughout the three-year program

Transplant Hepatology

  • Rotations include inpatient hepatology service, outpatient transplant and general hepatology clinics and weekly liver transplant selection committee meetings at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, a liver transplant center

Motility

  • One of 10 centers recognized nationally as a Gastrointestinal Motility Center of Excellence
  • Fellows spend at least one month a year rotating on a motility elective with training on reading motility studies and participation in outpatient motility clinics

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD)

  • Dedicated IBD center where GI and colorectal surgery see patients together
  • All fellows spend at least one month a year rotating on an IBD elective
  • Fellows perform chromoendoscopy and see patients in IBD clinic

In addition to these clinical activities, fellows are involved in research and journal club conferences, which are aimed at providing a core of knowledge in pathophysiology and critical literature review.

Fellows will be involved in teaching the medical students and residents rotating on the service. A significant research experience will be provided during the second year of training. The third year is individually tailored to the career goals of the fellow and includes advanced therapeutic endoscopic techniques.

There is also an opportunity to enroll in the Department of Public Health Sciences graduate programs. Recent GI fellows have successfully completed MS degrees during their GI fellowship period.

The program follows the Gastroenterology Core Curriculum in the training of gastroenterology fellows, in preparation to sit for the ABIM Board Examination in Gastroenterology. These training guidelines have been recommended by the American Gastroenterological Association, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Learn More about the Fellowship

To Apply Expand answer

General Application Information

Applications are only accepted through ERAS in accordance to the NRMP Specialties Matching Service policies and schedules.

Application Requirements

  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Passing scores on all USMLE steps or on all COMLEX levels

Learn more about the process of applying for a gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship in this 2012 article from Gastroenterology.

Interview Details

The program interviews on Wednesdays in late September through early November. Those selected to interview will be contacted directly.

Faculty Expand answer
Current Fellows Expand answer
Past Fellows Expand answer
About Penn State Health Expand answer

A screenshot shows the 2020 virtual tour of Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine.

Virtual Tour

A recently developed virtual tour showcases locations across Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa.

Explore the virtual tour


Penn State Health

Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 25 counties in central Pennsylvania. It employs more than 20,900 people systemwide.

The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterPenn State Health Children’s Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa.; and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 225 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various healthcare providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation HospitalHershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center.

In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region.

Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University’s medical school. With campuses in State College and Hershey, Pa., the College of Medicine boasts a portfolio of more than $150 million in funded research and more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, other health professions and biomedical research.

Learn more about Penn State Health

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine campus is seen in an aerial photo on a sunny day.

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

  • The health system’s 611-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
  • The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
  • Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
  • Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
  • More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
  • Approximately 29,000 admissions, 73,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 33,000 surgical procedures annually
  • Designated as a Magnet hospital since 2007

Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

  • An eight-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013 and expanded in 2020
  • 160 licensed pediatric beds, 26-bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit
  • Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
  • Level I quaternary (highest-level) pediatric intensive care unit
  • Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
  • Intermediate care unit
  • Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
  • More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits, 20,000 pediatric emergency room visits, and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually

Learn more about Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

About Hershey: Benefits, Stipends and More Expand answer

An aerial image shows downtown Hershey with the words Welcome to Hershey superimposed at right.

Welcome to Hershey

A new guide to the Hershey, Pa., area showcases the highlights of life in central Pennsylvania.

Learn more about the Hershey area


More About Hershey

Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:

Wellness Initiatives Expand answer

Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.

Institutional resources

Graduate medical education resources

Diversity Expand answer

Institutional Resources

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.

Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:

  • Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
  • Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
  • Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
    • Disability Business Employee Resource Group
    • Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
    • LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
    • Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
    • Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
    • NextGen Business Employee Resource Group
  • Black Physician Professional Staff Association – Resource Group
  • Hispanic Professional Association
  • Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association
  • International Workforce Inclusion
  • Inclusion Academy

Learn more about the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Learn more about the College of Medicine’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Belonging

Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.

Learn more about the Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.

Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.

NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Learn more information about NURF

Contact Us Expand answer

Curriculum Details

The three-year Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center offers a variety of clinical experiences.

First Year Expand answer

The first year of the fellowship involves intensive clinical training with emphasis on the pathophysiological approach to diagnosis and management of a broad spectrum of GI and liver diseases.

Consultative GI Service

The first-year fellow is responsible for the management of a busy Gastroenterology Consultative Service. More than 800 consults per year provide a broad base of clinical experience. The consultative gastroenterology team consists of an attending, a fellow, a rotating medicine resident and one or two medical students. Daily teaching rounds are conducted seven days a week.

Endoscopy Rotation

During these dedicated endoscopy rotations, the fellows are taught the cognitive and procedural skills in diagnostic endoscopy, including upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. Upper endoscopic procedures include esophageal dilatation, pneumatic dilatation, percutaneous gastrostomy tube placements, small bowel biopsy, and therapeutic modalities to control upper gastrointestinal bleeding including bicap, heater probe and injection therapy. Liver biopsies, along with injection sclerotherapy and banding of varices and placement of Sengstaken Blakemore tubes in the treatment of bleeding esophageal varices, are taught in the management of patients with liver disease. Lower gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures include flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy with polypectomy.

Outpatient Continuity Clinic

Half-day clinics provide a broad experience in the management of patients in the outpatient setting.

IBD Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated IBD rotation.

Motility Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated motility rotation.

Research

Fellows will work with a research mentor to start to develop projects.

ASGE Endoscopy Education

First-year fellows will attend a weekend of structured endoscopy education in Chicago, usually within their first 60 days of fellowship.

Second Year Expand answer

The second year of the fellowship provides training in more advanced procedural skills and an introduction to research.

Endoscopy Rotation

The procedures that are performed by the second-year fellow include more colonoscopy training, diagnostic ERCP and treatment of malignant strictures by YAG laser and further fine-tuning of the stated skills learned in the first year.

Transplant Hepatology

For two to three months, the second-year fellow is assigned to the Liver Service. This service includes attendance at the weekly Liver Transplant Clinic, where prospective patients with liver diseases are managed.

Research

The fellows are exposed to clinical or basic science research during the second year through months of protected time during which the fellows are not involved in clinical activities other than outpatient clinic one half-day per week and a half day of endoscopy. It is expected that fellows will submit an abstract to the national meetings of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology or the American Association of Liver Diseases.

IBD Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated IBD rotation.

Motility Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated motility rotation.

Consultative GI Service

Second-year fellows will also participate for a few weeks on this service.

Third Year Expand answer

The structure of the third year is designed to enable fellows to become competitive in their career paths. For those fellows interested in pursuing an academic career path, the third year will be designed to enhance their basic science or clinical research experience and to enable them to achieve funding for additional training, if necessary, as well as providing the clinical experience to develop expertise in a specific clinical area.

Endoscopy Rotation

Third-year fellows are involved in therapeutic ERCP, including sphincterotomy, stone extraction and stent placement in the biliary and pancreatic ducts. Exposure to endoscopic ultrasound is available. In addition, fellows will continue to enhance their skills at EGD and colonoscopies.

Research

There will be dedicated research time given during the third year as well.

IBD Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated IBD rotation.

Motility Rotation

Fellows will spend one month on a dedicated motility rotation.

Transplant Hepatology

For one to two months, the third-year fellow is assigned to the Liver Service. This service includes attendance at the weekly Liver Transplant Clinic, where prospective patients with liver diseases are managed.

Consultative GI Service

Third-year fellows will also participate for a few weeks on this service.

Fourth Year (Optional) Expand answer

The fourth year is an advanced endoscopy fellowship focusing on therapeutic endoscopic procedures, such as ERCP, EMR, luminal steering and treatments for Barrett’s esophagus. This is an optional, non-ACGME-accredited year.

See details on the Advanced Gastroenterology Endoscopy Fellowship

Call Expand answer

Night and weekend call are shared by all fellows.

Electives Expand answer

Fellows are encouraged to develop a fellowship in line with their interests. For example, a fellow could do an elective in radiology or pediatric gastroenterology.

Conferences Expand answer

In addition to the outpatient and inpatient clinical experience, there are a number of formal and informal teaching conferences within the division. Fellows are extensively involved in all these conferences.

In addition to the in-house conferences, the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology is active in the Central Pennsylvania Gut Club.

Fellows attend the annual meeting of the major gastroenterology or liver societies. Those who have research-based abstracts accepted for presentation will be able to attend additional conferences.

The weekly and monthly conferences include:

  • Clinical Case Conference
  • Journal Club
  • Research Conference
  • Morbidity and Mortality Conference
  • Liver/Pancreas/Foregut Conference
  • Medicine Grand Rounds
  • GI and Hepatology Pathophysiology Conferences
  • IBD Multidisciplinary Conference
  • Endoscopic Video Series
  • IBD Multicenter Conference
  • Interventional Endoscopy Conference
  • Monthly meeting with the fellows and Program Director
  • IBD Clinical Conference
  • Motility Interest Group
  • Liver Tumor Conference

Fellow Honors and Recognitions

Exceptional Teachers Expand answer

Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center accept ongoing nominations for the Exceptional Moments in Teaching award.

The award, given monthly by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment, accepts nominations from College of Medicine students who are invited to submit narratives about faculty members, residents, fellows, nurses or any other educators who challenge them and provide an exceptional learning experience. See more about the award here.

Previous nominees from the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship are listed here. Click the + next to a nominee name to read their nominator’s comments.

National Conference Presentations Expand answer

Previous oral and poster presentations from the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship are listed here.

Resident/Fellow Research Day Presentations Expand answer

The annual Resident/Fellow Research Day is held each year (with exception of during the COVID-19 pandemic) on and around the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus.

The intent of the event is to provide an opportunity for residents and fellows to showcase their research accomplishments to their peers in other clinical departments, as well as their colleagues in the basic sciences.

Learn more about Resident/Fellow Research Day here.

Previous presentations from the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship are listed here.

Latest News from Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.