The Section of Gastroenterology serves a major educational role at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, with involvement in each of the four years of the curriculum. The department maintains an active clinical practice at Temple University Hospital - the Digestive Disease Center - and offices in Center City Philadelphia and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. We are involved in a number of clinical and educational research programs.
Our goals are to educate medical students, residents and physicians to thrive in today’s dynamic healthcare environment and to care for patients with both common digestive disorders and rare, difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal problems.
We are a primary care center, serving our community; a secondary care center, caring for patients referred from the greater Philadelphia area; and a tertiary care center, treating patients referred from other academic medical centers. Patients come from all over the northeastern United States to be seen in our motility center. Our doctors are nationally and internationally recognized for their patient care.
Our facilities are state-of-the-art. We have the cutting edge diagnostic and therapeutic equipment to manage diseases ranging from pancreatico-biliary disorders to small intestinal conditions and motility disorders.
We believe in a team approach to patient care, with regular, collaborative meetings in which Temple surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, oncologists and gastroenterologists discuss patient cases and develop optimal treatment plans.
Areas of special expertise include:
- Motility testing of the gastrointestinal tract. This includes acid and motility testing of the esophagus, motility of the small intestine and function of the rectum. Temple researchers and clinicians developed tests to assess the function of the intestine that are available in only a few centers in the world.
- Barrett’s Esophagus, a complication of chronic reflux that can lead to cancer. We utilize state-of-the-art cytology and laser mapping of the esophagus. Our therapies include cryotherapy, radio frequency ablation, endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection.
- Capsule endoscopy for the small intestine that enables us to non-invasively visualize the entire small bowel. Push and device assisted enteroscopy enable therapy in every part of the small bowel.
- Treatment of hemorrhoids with infrared light or rubber band ligation.
- ERCP performed in a state-of-the-art facility. High resolution fluoroscopy and double balloon enteroscopy permit successful procedures to be performed in even the most difficult post-surgical patients.
- Liver transplantation and treatment of a wide range of liver diseases.
- Endoscopic ultrasound that enables us to diagnose, stage and treat disorders throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
The Temple Digestive Disease Center is well known for its training programs. We have a three-year fellowship in Gastroenterology and unique fellowships in Gastrointestinal Motility and in Hepatology. Fellows from medical centers around the country come to Temple for one-month training programs in our Motility Center. Temple interns, residents and medical students have the opportunity to learn in each of our facilities.
Research is an important part of Gastroenterology at Temple. We have faculty members who are supported by the National Institutes of Health, as well as national foundations and private industry. Special treatment protocols are available to Temple patients that are not available elsewhere. Publications and advances by our faculty make the news.
The Section of Gastroenterology is a dynamic, cutting edge group comprised of physicians and medical staff who continuously work to advance medical science, educate the physicians of tomorrow, and most of all, provide outstanding and compassionate care to our patients.