During your fellowship, you will work closely with faculty members providing patient care in ambulatory and inpatient settings. The favorable faculty ratio, large and diverse patient population, and state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic, and research facilities combine to create an ideal educational setting.

The Mayo Clinic Model of Care incorporates education into daily practice and ensures that you have the finest teaching and the broadest patient care experience possible during a busy, hands-on fellowship. Your clinical activities are designed primarily for educational value rather than for service.

The primary training sites are Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Liver transplant training takes place on the Mayo Clinic transplant service. Elective rotations at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, may also be available.

Continuity clinic occurs throughout the three years. Elective options include bleeding team, pediatric gastroenterology, HIV Clinic, advanced endoscopic training, additional research time, rotations at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, or special programs you design.

Rotation schedule

Outlined is a typical three-year curriculum. Individual programs will vary, especially during the third year, according to the fellows' interests.

Each year is divided into 13 four-week rotations.

Endoscopic training

Training is provided in:

• Diagnostic and therapeutic upper endoscopy
• Colonoscopy
• Sigmoidoscopy
• Esophageal dilatation
• Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) placement
• Variceal and non-variceal hemostasis

You also gain experience in advanced techniques such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound, photodynamic therapy, and enteral stent placement.

Special clinical training

Dedicated periods are set aside to provide clinical training in important areas of gastroenterology. During the following rotations, you will work with a faculty member who has special interest and expertise in these areas:

• Motility disorders and motility studies
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Esophageal clinic
• Hepatobiliary disease
• Clinical nutrition and nutritional support
• GI radiology
• GI pathology
• Liver transplant
• ERCP
• Endoscopic ultrasound

Additional opportunities are available for the development of clinical and research expertise within these areas.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are all integral parts of the Gastroenterology Fellowship.

Teaching conferences

An active schedule of teaching conferences is maintained with an average of more than two conferences a week. The goal of these conferences is to help you develop the knowledge and skills necessary to function as an effective consultant in gastroenterology and hepatology in a clinical academic setting.

Fellows are primarily responsible for the content of the GI monthly conferences listed below with the close support of faculty mentors. Conferences include:

• IBD Colorectal/Neoplasia Conference
• GI&H Case Conference
• Hepatology Case Conference
• GI&H Research Conference
• GI&H Journal Club
• GI Core Curriculum
• Liver Transplant Selection Conference
• Pathology Conference

You also participate in other Mayo-wide conferences and training programs, such as Medical Grand Rounds and clinical pathologic conferences.

In addition, Mayo Clinic in Arizona offers a conference series for all residents that introduces them to some of the ethical, legal, and personal aspects of medical practice that are not routinely covered in medical lectures. A few of the topics addressed include cost-effective health care, communications skills, mutual respect, and pharmacy in medical practice. A course in evidence-based medicine is also offered monthly over the dinner hour.

Periodically, there are special courses such as a publishing seminar and a short statistics course. More extensive course offerings are available from Mayo Clinic in Minnesota during the research months in the second year of the fellowship. Finally, fellows are encouraged to attend courses at national meetings after presenting posters or oral presentations.

Visiting professors offer the opportunity for you to interact with academicians from across the country. Typically, three to four visiting professors provide lectures annually and have morning sessions specifically devoted to interaction with fellows.

Research training

A significant portion of your GI fellowship is dedicated to research. This provides you the opportunity to define, develop, and perform formal clinical research projects under the guidance of experienced faculty members. The Clinical Research Center provides facilities, equipment and research nurse assistants to support your clinical research projects.

There are opportunities to collaborate with basic scientists at the Samuel C. Johnson Research Building on the Mayo Clinic campus in Scottsdale or with researchers at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, though most fellows choose to perform clinical research exclusively. You will share the information generated during the research year through presentations at national meetings and in publications.

In addition to the protected research time, fellows complete additional research projects, case reports or topic reviews in the midst of their clinical training.