Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Department of Medicine

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division at the University of Vermont College of Medicine/University of  Vermont Medical Center has eight Gastroenterologists, one Advanced Practice Provider, four GI Fellows, and  two Ph.D.’s. Clinical care, teaching, and both basic science and clinical research are all essential elements to  our Unit.

Exceptional clinical care is a cornerstone to our Unit. We provide both inpatient and outpatient consultative  care. Our outpatient clinics are located in the Digestive Disease Center located on the 5th floor of the  Ambulatory Care Center. Clinics are dedicated to liver disease and each aspect of luminal gastroenterology.  This year, in order to better serve our patients with inflammatory bowel disease, we began the process of developing a patient oriented Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. We are also restructuring how we provide specialty care to patients with liver disease so that we can better serve our patients across the University of Vermont Health Network.

Our endoscopy Unit performs over 12,500 procedures each year. We perform both general gastroenterology as well as advanced therapeutic procedures. Our collective ADR for colorectal cancer screening is 39%, and all of our endoscopists who perform colonoscopy are above the National Benchmark of 25%. Dr. Eric Ganguly, who has served at our institution for 12 years, with a particular interest in therapeutic endoscopy, has accepted the position of Chief of Endoscopy at UVMMC. This year we installed a system throughout our endoscopy unit which enables us to integrate real-time endoscopic, fluoroscopic, endosonographic and cytologic imaging. We have also implemented endovault, which is a new electronic endoscopy report generating system.

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit takes pride in the quality of medical education it provides. Nationally we educate other Gastroenterologists through participating in educational committees in the American Association of Liver Disease and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Faculty formally teach Medical Residents locally by presiding at Morning Report and leading the Academic Half Day Educational Series section dedicated to Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Clinical gastroenterology conferences include a weekly GI Core Conference, bi-weekly GI Pathology Conference and GI journal clubs, and a monthly Quality Care Review Committee Meeting. Members of the GI faculty are also key contributors at weekly GI Multidisciplinary Cancer Conferences.

Fellowship training remains extremely strong. The Gastroenterology Board passage rate of our fellows over the last 20 years is 100%. Our longstanding Gastroenterology Fellowship Director, Dr. Nicholas Ferrentino, has recently improved the program by incorporating a wider spectrum of physicians into the training of our fellows. Collaborative conferences with other Divisions at our institution, broadening the scope of our Gastroenterology lecture series, and providing opportunity for sub-specialized training at other Institutions are all occurring to enhance the education of our Gastroenterology Fellows.

Research in our unit is flourishing. Ongoing clinical research projects regarding non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, Resident education, Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal dilation, Intestinal motility, chronic constipation, serotonin signaling, and hepatobiliary disorders are being performed. This year, Dr. Lidofsky was the co-recipient of the Frymoyer Scholar Award to study optimization of hepatitis C care in Vermont.

I am honored to be part of this prolific Unit, with its diverse research interests, devotion to teaching, and tireless clinical service to the community.