Mercy Medical Center Clinician Scholar Program
The three-year combined Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Maryland and Mercy Medical Center is designed to provide broad training in clinical gastroenterology and hepatology and in clinical research.
The first year of the fellowship is completed at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore VA Medical Center (BVAMC). The second and third years are based at Mercy Medical Center, a community teaching hospital affiliated with University of Maryland School of Medicine. The fellowship leads to board-eligibility in Gastroenterology and is designed to develop fellows into exceptional clinical practice, academic clinical investigator or academic clinician-educators. Please refer to the UMD Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship Curriculum page for information about the first year of fellowship at UMD. The information below details fellowship training during the 2nd and 3rd years of the UMD-MMC Clinician Scholar Program.
The Mercy Medical Center component of the fellowship program is supervised by Paul J. Thuluvath, MD, director for the Institute of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases (IDHLD) at the Mercy Medical Center. The IDHLD has many nationally and internationally recognized clinicians and researchers with many years of academic experience of training gifted GI fellows. Mercy Medical Center also has a long-established tradition of co-training residents in conjunction with University of Maryland Medical Center. Find out more information about the IDHLD.
Outline of Training Program
GI Consultation Service
- Consultations at MMC under supervision of MMC faculty
- Routine and daytime emergency procedures
- Supervision of residents, students
- Outpatient clinic
- 3 months each year
Hepatology Service
- Liver consultations at MMC
- Liver biopsies
- Inpatient endoscopy on hepatology patients
- 3 months each year
Endoscopy Rotation
- Outpatient endoscopy at MMC
- Esophageal motility
- Esophageal 24 hour pH monitoring
- Wireless capsule endoscopy
- 2-3 months a year
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Consultation Service
- Inpatient consultation
- Outpatient clinic
- 3-6 months during fellowship
Outpatient Management
- Weekly continuity clinic throughout fellowship
- Additional rotation-specific exposure
- Direct faculty supervision
Clinical Research
- Develop research protocol(s) obtain IRB approval(s) and complete research project(s)
- Research presentations (GI rounds and national meetings)
- Publish findings
Evaluations
Emphasis is placed on day-to-day feedback to fellows on individual cases and procedures. In addition, attendings provide formal written and informal feedback at the end of the rotation for each fellow. Written evaluations are available for review by the fellow and are discussed with the program director at least every six months. Likewise, fellows provide written confidential evaluations of each faculty member and of the training program. The fellow has ample opportunity for discussion with the program director throughout the training period.
In addition to the minimal requirements above, emphasis is placed on mentoring trainees by individual faculty members regarding research projects, didactic presentations, and long-range career goals.
Application Process
Application to this program are handled through the University of Maryland Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.