Gastroenterology Fellowship Program

Westchester Medical Center is a 415-bed academic hospital and the flagship of WMCHealth in Valhalla, New York. It is the Hudson Valley region’s tertiary and quaternary care and referral hospital, serving more than 2.4 million people. Each year, more than 120,000 patients receive care at Westchester Medical Center in every clinical specialty through the University Hospital, the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the Ambulatory Care Pavilion (ACP), and the Behavioral Health Center. The Westchester Medical Center Health Network includes nine hospitals on seven campuses throughout Hudson Valley. Many residents of New York City, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut are also attracted to the outstanding services at Westchester Medical Center. As the only Liver Transplant Center between New York City and Rochester, Westchester Medical Center provides care for most of the region’s patients with end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Facilities for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Disease include a spacious five-room endoscopy unit, fellows’ work room within the endoscopy unit, conference room adjacent to the endoscopy unit, an outpatient faculty practice and gastroenterology continuity clinic offices.

During training at Westchester Medical Center, fellows manage a diverse population of inpatients and outpatients with the full array of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. In addition to performing high volumes of upper endoscopies and colonoscopies, fellows are exposed to a variety of advanced endoscopic and motility procedures including ERCP, Spyglass cholangiography, EUS, radiofrequency ablation, endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection, esophageal peroral endoscopic myotomy (E-POEM), gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (G-POEM), intraluminal stent placement, cyst gastrostomy, endoscopic wound vac management, capsule endoscopy, Bravo pH, functional lumen imaging probe (EndoFLIP), esophageal and anorectal manometry, and ambulatory pH impedance testing.

Core rotations for inpatient experience include gastroenterology consults, liver consults, and transplant hepatology. The outpatient experience includes fellow continuity clinic as well as rotations in the gastroenterology faculty practice, hepatology faculty practice (included as part of the liver consult rotation), and dedicated endoscopy and elective/research time. Fellows may tailor their elective months to learn more about focused areas such as nutrition, gastrointestinal motility, bariatric/minimally invasive surgery, colorectal surgery,  pancreaticobiliary surgery, specialized endoscopic procedures, gastroenterology radiology and clinical research.

Continuity clinic is one or two half day sessions per week depending on rotation. Fellows receive four weeks of vacation per year.

We are now pleased to offer select, approved second-year fellows an option to pursue an integrated, three-year GI and Transplant Hepatology training track:

• Years 1–2: Standard GI rotations.
• Year 3: Focused liver/transplant hepatology training.
• On completion, fellows are eligible to sit for both GI and Transplant Hepatology board exams.

Additionally, the ACGME has approved a stand-alone 4th-year Transplant Hepatology Fellowship.

The fellowship program offers a rich portfolio of didactic and interactive learning experiences for fellows including:

• Weekly gastroenterology grand rounds
• Weekly attending-led didactic sessions
• Monthly board review
• Monthly journal club
• Fellows’ club sessions with program director to discuss topics such as wellness, career development and job search, financial literacy
• Hands-on endoscopy learning sessions/workshops
• Liver transplant recipient review
• Gastroenterology and Liver tumor boards
• Liver pathology conference
• Additionally, fellows are provided supplemental virtual learning opportunities though Westchester Medical Center and our professional societies.

Fellows are required to complete a clinical research review article manuscript or a quality improvement project during their years in training. Fellows receive introductory lectures on how to navigate IRB process and how to initiate research projects. In addition, our fellows must write at least one poster or abstract published or accepted at the annual scientific meetings sponsored by national or regional societies.