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 18 years, with a particular interest in therapeutic endoscopy, is the Chief of Endoscopy at UVMMC. We have 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, as our 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, weekly GI Pathology Conference, 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 and assistant Fellowship Director, Dr. Jason Heffley have expanded the Fellowship and are initiating a Fellow Clinic at an underserved area in our Health Network.
Research in our unit is flourishing. Ongoing clinical research projects regarding non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis B, Resident education, Barrett’s esophagus, Intestinal motility, pancreatic disorders, endoscopic innovation, endoscopic quality 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.
Richard Zubarik, M.D.
Professor of Medicine