Gastroenterology
Gastroenterology is a branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. In the United States, Gastroenterology is an Internal Medicine Subspecialty certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the organs from mouth to anus, along the alimentary canal, are the focus of this specialty. Physicians practicing in this field of medicine are called
gastroenterologists. They have usually completed the eight years of pre-medical and medical education, the year-long internship, three years of an internal medicine residency, and two to three years in the gastroenterology fellowship. Some gastroenterology trainees will complete a "fourth-year" in Transplant Hepatology, Advanced Endoscopy, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, motility or other topics. Gastroenterology is not the same as colorectal or hepatobiliary surgery, which are specialty branches of general surgery.
Hepatology, or
hepatobiliary medicine, encompasses the study of the liver, pancreas, and biliary tree, and is traditionally considered a sub-specialty.