Program and Hopsital Information
General Program Information
The UCLA Training Program in Digestive Diseases is world-renowned for producing leaders in academic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatology. We have a unified program of educational goals and offer exceptional opportunities for advanced training in clinical gastroenterology, hepatology, and related research. The UCLA Program is the largest of its kind in the Nation, with up to 21 Fellows receiving training at any time, along with over 50 full-time faculty members. The program offers training in every facet of clinical and investigative gastroenterology and hepatology.
The core clinical training includes a minimum of 20 months of clinical rotations and a weekly continuity clinic for the duration of the fellowship. This training meets or exceeds the requirements mandated by the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The core of the clinical component typically takes place in the first two years, during which fellows are immersed in intensive hospital-based and outpatient rotations in gastroenterology and hepatology. These rotations ensure a diversity of clinical presentations and patient populations. Additionally, they give every fellow equal exposure to the faculty and their research interests. Extensive endoscopic experience is also provided and fellows routinely exceed the requirements for accreditation set by the ACGME. Training in advanced endoscopic procedures is available for those fellows in the 3rd year and beyond who are accepted to an advanced endoscopy fellowship program.
The centerpiece for didactic instruction is a weekly two hour core curriculum seminar series. The curriculum is a dynamic, inter-disciplinary program that features lectures from internationally-recognized authorities in GI and Hepatology. We augment this series by inviting lecturers from parnter disciplines such as Surgery, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Molecular Biology, and Physiology. Visiting professors from other national and international centers of excellence also give presentations at this weekly seminar series. Approximately 5-10 visiting professors come to UCLA annually, and the series culminates each spring with a keynote lecture by the Schwabe-Walsh Visiting Professor who is chosen well in advance from input by the current GI fellows and faculty.
In addition to the primary clinical training, and in keeping with our mandate to train leaders in the fields of digestive disease, fellows are required and encouraged to pursue research and intellectual creativity in any relevant area of their own choosing. Both basic science and clinical disciplines are well-represented in our program. Applicants should be aware that minimal training can be accomplished in three years but individual research programs may require longer periods of training (e.g. MSHS, MPH, and PhD degree requirements).
The specific hospitals that fellows rotate through are as follows:
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
- Los Angeles VA Greater Health Care System
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Additionally, there are specific rotations available for post-first year fellows at the following affiliated hospitals:
