The Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania is a premier program that is committed to excellence in patient care, education, and research. The training program, originally founded in 1929 by T. Grier Miller, MD, has played a major role in training academic gastroenterologists and hepatologists throughout the world.
The Liver Transplant program at Penn performs ~140 liver transplants per year, including living donor transplants, and complex dual organ transplants. The University of Pennsylvania offers an ACGME certified training program in Transplant Hepatology. The program consists of a broad exposure to ambulatory and inpatient care of pre- and post- liver transplant patients. Trainees develop expertise in caring for patients with advanced liver disease from referral to transplant evaluation to waitlist management, to early and long-term post-transplant care. Our program also offers a dual certification pathway for interested fellows to complete their Transplant hepatology training during the three-year gastroenterology fellowship (total of three years for completion of gastroenterology and transplant hepatology fellowship training). Transplant hepatology fellows rotate primarily through the inpatient and outpatient settings at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), but also with other institutions within the University of Pennsylvania Health System including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to gain exposure to pediatric transplant hepatology.
In addition to a strong clinical program in transplant hepatology, there are outstanding clinical research programs in epidemiology, liver oncology, viral hepatitis, chronic and advanced liver disease, and liver transplantation. The division has modern research facilities for state-of-the-art studies in molecular and cell biology, genetics, immunology, physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry for those who may have an interest in translational or basic science research opportunities.
The fundamental goal of the transplant hepatology fellowship program is to train fellows for careers as academic transplant hepatologists, with expertise in general hepatology, advanced liver disease and transplantation, who will advance the fields of hepatology and transplant medicine.
Program leadership
Christine Chan, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Program Director, Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Program
Jorge A. Marrero, MD
Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Training program
Fellowship applicants must have completed a three-year gastroenterology fellowship at the time of matriculation into the transplant hepatology program. The one year of clinical training encompasses management of general hepatology, end stage liver disease management, liver oncology in addition to extensive training in pre and post-transplant disease management. Dedicated subspecialty clinics within hepatology in addition to continuity clinics provide exposure that exceeds ACGME requirements for training to qualify for the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship board exam. In addition, inpatient hepatology rotations are designed to allow for significant autonomy in decision making and leading inpatient rounds with appropriate faculty guidance to prepare trainees to be competent, confident, and independent clinicians. Exposure to a sizable transplant volume per year allows for the opportunity to follow a large number of patients throughout the course of transplant evaluation, transplant and post-transplant care. Fellows will also perform living donor evaluations for eligible recipients for living donor liver transplantation at Penn.
The University of Pennsylvania participates in several NIH and non-NIH funded clinical trials and thus provides an ample opportunity for the fellow to participate in clinical trial design and implementation.
Faculty
The training program has several world-renowned hepatologists. The Director of Hepatology is Dr. David Kaplan and the Medical Director of Liver transplant is Dr. Maarouf Hoteit.
Our faculty include many nationally and internationally recognized hepatologists and basic science investigators including Drs. Jorge Marrero, K. Rajender (Raj) Reddy, Kyong-Mi Chang, Steven Solga, Marina Serper, Stacey Prenner, Christine Chan, Nadim Mahmud, Kenneth Rothstein, Ethan Weinberg, Jonathan Nahas, Kelley Weinfurtner, Marina Serper, and Rebecca Wells.
The Transplant surgery team includes: Drs. Abraham Shaked, Kim Olthoff, Peter Abt, Matt Levine, and Samir Abu-Gazala. There is a unique and vital synergy in the day-to-day clinical care between Transplant surgery and Medicine teams. The transplant hepatology fellow is integrated into this team to help provide care for patients for pre and post liver transplant care.
Core curriculum
Fellowship training will occur at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.
Inpatient training will include 14 weeks on the hepatology service. Responsibilities on the inpatient service include evaluation and management of a spectrum of acute and chronic liver diseases. The fellow will be responsible for leading daily rounds with the attending and educating medical students, residents and gastroenterology fellows.
Fellows rotate through the transplant surgery service where they will participate in management of post-op patients and observe transplants and harvests. In addition to outpatient hepatology continuity clinic which will occur throughout the year, the fellow will be expected to participate in the following outpatient clinics when not on inpatient service: Transplant Evaluation Clinic on Mondays, Post-transplant Clinic on Tuesdays, Integrated alcoholic liver disease clinic on Tuesdays, and Liver Tumor clinic on Fridays. The fellow will participate in outpatient endoscopy time with hepatology faculty as well as management of immunosuppression for outpatients.
Clinical training is supplemented by interrelated didactic conferences:
- Hepatobiliary tumor conference
- Liver Transplant Selection Meeting
- GI/Hepatology Pathology Conference
- GI/Hepatology Clinical Journal Club
- GI/Hepatology Clinical Case Conference
- GI/Hepatology Grand Rounds
- Transplant Surgery Quality and patient safety meetings/ conferences
- Transplant Surgery Conference
Any questions in regards to the fellowship program or application can be addressed to:
Christine.Chan@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Advanced Transplant Hepatology fellow
Pedro Ochoa Allemant, MD
Medical School: Universidad de San Martin de Porres
Residency Program: Yale-New Haven Hospital
Program/Specialty: Clinical Epidemiology
Interest(s) within gastroenterology: Intersection between Hepatology, health equity, and outcomes research
Hobbies: I enjoy playing and watching soccer, watching Formula 1 races, cooking with my wife, and salsa dancing.
Why I chose Penn: I chose Penn for the outstanding and rigorous clinical training provided along with unparalleled and well-structured research opportunities supporting a robust career in academia.