Welcome

The fellowship in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) involves the care of patients with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and related disorders (i.e. pouchitis, microscopic colitis, etc).

Clinical Care

The fellowship is largely focused on outpatient ambulatory clinics and endoscopy of IBD patients. Fellows will be placed with GI clinicians that have an IBD focus. There are also two weekly IBD clinics that IBD fellows will be expected to attend, where care is delivered alongside a multidisciplinary team including a nurse practitioner. There are also inpatient consultations of IBD patients in order to be familiar with the management of IBD in the hospital setting. Opportunities are provided to attend pediatric IBD clinics to become familiar with the use of enteral nutrition and to attend surgical cases of IBD patients to become familiar with IBD surgeries.

Education

We offer a competency-based training program. Training in inflammatory bowel disease will allow fellows to assess IBD patients, decide on optimal treatment, be familiar with and be able to manage complications of therapy and disease and determine which patients for whom surgery is appropriate. We also encourage our fellows to spend a short time attending pediatric IBD clinics and to attend 2-3 IBD surgeries. Residents and fellows are encouraged to tailor their training to their needs and carrier goals and are encouraged to attend and present at national and international conferences. IBD fellows are also expected to read around interesting cases and present them at monthly citywide IBD rounds. The fellowship is available to trainees that have completed training in gastroenterology. Opportunities to perform a luminal ultrasound for the evaluation of IBD patients are also available.

Research

IBD Fellows are encouraged to participate in research projects and attend our quarterly research team meeting. We have numerous ongoing research projects and fellows will have the opportunity to participate in research tailored to their personal goals.

Certification Outcome

The successful completion of the fellowship will grant a Fellowship McMaster Certification.

Entry Requirements

The fellowship program is designed for current residents or recent graduates of a gastroenterology fellowship program. Recent graduates are required to submit an application form and comply with McMaster University Postgraduate Medical Education requirements for residents and fellows.

Application Deadline

There is no formal application deadline. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact the program director and find out about availability.

Goals of Training

• Practicing IBD-related history-taking and physical examination skills.
• Understanding the health risks and complications of IBD
  Identifying differential diagnoses of IBD.
• Managing IBD complications including perianal fistulas, abscesses, strictures, and colonic dysplasia/cancer.
• Performing colonoscopy in IBD patients, including but not limited to screening for dysplasia, performing stricture dilation, performing chromoendoscopy, and being familiar with scoring systems of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• Implementing evidence-based principles of IBD includes familiarity with prescribing conventional and non-conventional therapies and interventions, understanding and being able to explain the risks of therapy, and being able to monitor and identify patients who experience adverse events of therapy.

Length of Training

This training program is not time-based but competency-based. Training is flexible to accommodate the fellow’s career goals according to his/her baseline knowledge and skills.

Funding

Local funding for up to one Canadian-trained fellow is available per academic year. Fellows who have funding secured from outside sources are also encouraged to apply.