In our comprehensive three-year fellowship program, you will receive a broad range of hands-on clinical experience and individualized instruction from nationally known physicians and investigators in a collegial environment.

Fellowship Experience

Our program provides superior gastroenterology and hepatology training in a collaborative environment. We have specialty clinics across our medical campus, which is anchored by our 1,200 bed inpatient center UAB Hospital—the eighth largest public hospital in the nation. The hospital is in close proximity to the Birmingham VA Medical Center, UAB Hospital Highlands campus, The Kirklin Clinic, and Children's Hospital of Alabama where fellows also train.

Patients come from all over the state to take advantage of our life-changing care, offering a diverse population and breadth of clinical learning opportunities. We approach medicine in a multi-disciplinary modality across a broad variety of diverse gastroenterology and hepatology-related conditions from pancreatitis to Crohn's disease and irritable bowel disease (IBD) to hepatic encephalopathy and liver disease, through mandatory and elective rotations. We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service.

Clinical Rotations

The fellow is offered electives in several subspecialty clinics to broaden their clinical exposure. The training curriculum incorporates multiple subspecialty clinics, which can be customized to the fellow’s interests and career goals. Working one-on-one with multiple faculty members in different subspecialties provides a strong foundation and confidence in the treatment of all digestive and liver related diseases.

During the three-year training period, fellows must complete two years of clinical training and one additional year of either research or clinical training. In the first year, fellows gain clinical expertise in GI/Liver Disease through rotations in various services including the University Hospital GI and hepatology ward, GI consult, and VA endoscopy consult. In the second year, fellows develop basic skills for clinical research, aiming to acquire foundational competencies by year's end. The third year involves further clinical training in GI/Liver Disease, including rotations in VA Endoscopy/Consult, University Hospital GI and hepatology ward, GI consult, and elective rotations of up to 4-6 months. Additionally, fellows participate in rotating call, continuity clinic, and subspecialty clinics held at both VA Hospital and The Kirklin Clinic, allowing them to rotate through attending physicians' clinics every four months.

Teaching Conferences

Our training program is designed to provide our fellows with significant opportunities for teaching. Fellows are expected to help train/teach our residents and students rotating through the service while in charge of the consult service. Fellows discuss cases and formulate a management plan together with the residents and students prior to rounds with the supervising attending on a daily basis. Fellows are also required to present and discuss cases at our conferences, as well as deliver lectures to medical students on a basic or clinical gastroenterology or hepatology topic.

GI Grand Rounds is a weekly opportunity for our faculty, fellows, and staff to hear from experts in a multitude of fields both within and outside of UAB. Topics vary from ongoing research projects to clinical vignettes with discussion of gastroenterology and hepatology disease processes.

All conferences are open to faculty, fellows, residents, students and staff, and are held in a hybrid format with the option to attend in-person or virtual via Zoom.

Research Opportunities

Research is an essential part of our training program. Opportunities for research involvement are made available through our Clinical Research Program, allowing trainees to learn through research while increasing medical knowledge. By the end of their second year of training, fellows are expected to acquire foundational competencies for conducting clinical research, with each fellow allocated dedicated research time averaging six months, extendable up to 12 months for basic science research. Presentation of their research findings at regional or national scientific meetings is strongly encouraged.

Frequently Asked Questions