The University of Pennsylvania Advanced Esophagology and Swallowing Fellowship is a one-year combined clinical and research fellowship offered over the academic year starting on July 1st. The esophageal fellow will be appointed a clinical instructor position and will be required to maintain approximately two half sessions or endoscopy or clinical time. This fellowship is not ACGME accredited and does not participate in the match.
Goals and Objectives
The overall goal of the fellowship is to train budding esophagologists for a career in academic medicine. This fellowship allows a selected individual to dedicate a year to studying diseases of the esophagus, taking advantage of our high volume tertiary care center. There is a high volume of referrals to Penn both nationally and internationally for esophageal conditions. These conditions include but are not limited to structural pathology, motility diseases, malignant conditions, reflux conditions, and allergic diseases. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania physiology lab sees over 1000 patients annually for esophageal testing.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System has a multidisciplinary approach to these patients; likewise the fellowship will integrate clinical exposure to many other subspecialties including GI Radiology, GI Pathology, ENT, Foregut Surgery, and Pediatrics. The fellowship also provides dedicated time to learning to perform and read various motility studies.
A significant portion of time is allocated for research and a project idea should be defined prior to the start of the fellowship year. The project should be approved by Dr. Lynch the program director. The goal is to submit at least two abstracts for Digestive Diseases Week and publish two first author papers.
Eligibility and Requirements
Candidates must be Board Eligible or Certified in Gastroenterology. They must have graduated from an accredited Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship program. Competitive candidates will have outstanding letters of recommendation, experience presenting at national meetings, and first author publications in peer reviewed journals.
Responsibilities
The fellow will also be involved in multidisciplinary meetings including the Swallowing Conference, Esophageal Journal Club, and the Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis conference. They will also be involved in management of the physiology laboratory and attend the weekly manometry review session.
Program Leadership
Kristle Lynch, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine