Education
Fellowship Program Director: John Alan Kerner, MD
Dr. Kerner has been a faculty member in Pediatric Gastro-enterology since 1979 at Stanford University School of Medicine. He served as a director of the Division form 1979-1985 and as co-director from 1985 thorough 1994. He is board certified in Pediatric Gastroenterology and in Pediatrics. He was recently recertified in Pediatric Gastroenterology in 1997. Dr. Kerner has received three prestigious teaching awards: a. named by the Pediatric Housestaff as the Pediatric Faculty Member Who Contributed Most to Housestaff Teaching (6/81); b. Kaiser award for innovative
Fellowship
Description of fellowship program: PDF
The goal of the subspecialty Residency (fellowship) is to train physician to achieve excellence in the practice of clinical pediatric gastroenterology, scholarly basic science and clinical research, and medical education. The goals of this program are achieved over the course of three years of training.
Briefly:
- GI residents accept graduated responsibility in the area of children with gastrointestinal, hepatic and nutritional disorders while under the direct supervision of a board certified pediatric gastroenterologist while rotating through the gastroenterology inpatient service, the liver transplant , and elective experiences in pediatrics radiology and pediatric pathology. This responsibility includes patent care, parent conferences, consultations with other subspecialties, night and weekend call, and interfacing with the many services which interact with pediatric gastroenterology, nutrition, and liver transplant.
- The first year of the residency will be primarily clinical in nature, during which the resident will become trained in the evaluation and management of children with diseases of the gastrointestinal system and their nutritional consequents. During the course of the first year, the resident will be introduced to the ongoing research programs of each contributing faculty members so that by the end of the year the resident will be introduced to the ongoing research programs of each contributing faculty members so that by primarily to investigation in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, but the resident will continue to participate in the clinical activities of the Division to the appropriate degree to maintain and hone clinical skills. After completion of the subspecialty residency, the GI resident will have met the requirements for board eligibility in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition set forth by the America Board of Pediatrics .
- With the successful funding of the combined Stanford-UCSF HIH HIDDK Training Grant, the GI residents were exposed to diverse research possibilities, both basic science and clinical in focus, at both the Stanford and UCSF campuses. Even though the grant is no longer active, GI fellows still may utilize mentors at UCSF. Submission of research for presentation at meetings is actively supported, and application for grogram as a requirement for board certification.
- To encourage the development of teaching skills, resident participation is required at the weekly pediatric GI Journal Club/case discussion meeting. In addition , the resident presents 1-2 times /year at the combined adult GI/Pediatric GI Journal Club –also a weekly event. The GI resident also will present 1 of the 4 “board review Lectures: in Gastroenterology at the Noon lecture Series designed for pediatric house staff and students.
The program permits achievement of the above goals by providing:
- extensive 1:1 supervision by Pediatric Gastroenterology faculty while on clinical services.
- a broad based experience with pediatric gastroenterology patents that span the entire spectrum of varied and complex diseases I the field; the volume of patients in sufficiently great to ensure that the subspecialty residents (fellows) have the opportunity to become clinically competent in the management of common as well as uncommon gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and pancreatic diseases in patients ranging for infancy through young adulthood.
- a consult service that provides expert evaluation of the gastrointestinal manifestation of a broad spectrum of pediatric illnesses.
- the PRECEPT program (see appendix) that provides two years of courses aimed at the subspecialty resident (fellow) to enhance their knowledge of :
- Biostatistics
- Clinical Epidemiology
- Design and conduct of clinical trials
- Preparation of manuscripts and grant
- Teaching & presentations skills critical appraisal of the literature
- Ethics & responsible conduct of research
- Practical course o molecular biology techniques
- Reading, writing & reviewing the scientific literature
Duration of the Program
Our program is of three years duration for the following reasons:
- Three years of full-time subspecialty residency training in Pediatric Gastroenterology is required by the American Board of Pediatrics.
- Because the majority of pediatric subspecialties practice in academic health centers, there is a need to provide greater emphasis on research training as well as to strengthen the training in clinical care. To meet the goals stated above, our program is in agreement with the American Academy of pediatric statement in their newsletter for Diplomates Volume 9(1) m July 1988 that three years are necessary to provided the proper research foundation to succeed in the academic pediatrics and to allow a greater clinical exposure as well. We begin the trainee’s research experience in the first year and continue that experience for the entire period of training in order to allow for the development of research skills and to bring a project to completion (thus, we are in compliance with “requirements for all accredited pediatric subspecialties”).
John Kerner, M.D. is currently the Fellowship Program Director at Stanford University School of Medicine.
The first year of the GI subspecialty residency will be primarily clinical in nature, during which the GI resident will become trained in the evaluation and management of children with diseases of the gastrointestinal system and their nutritional consequences.
During the course of the first year, the trainee will be introduced to the ongoing research programs of each contributing faculty member so that by the end of the year, the GI resident will be able to select a research area to pursue. The second and third years will be devoted primarily to investigation in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, but the GI resident will continue to participate in the clinical activities of the Division to the appropriate degree to maintain and hone clinical skills.
The program is a three-year Fellowship that emphasizes the development of experience and proficiency in clinical, investigative, and educational aspects of gastroenterology and hepatology. The structure of the program will be flexible so that trainees may equip themselves for a career as either clinical or investigative gastroenterologists.
In general, the first year emphasizes the acquisition of basic skills in clinical gastroenterology and hepatology. The second and third years involve a continued role in patient care, with the balance of available time individualized toward the pursuit of specific research interests, either clinical or basic science oriented. Advanced endoscopic procedures will be stressed only after the first year. Medical-Surgical, Pathological, Radiology, Problem Case Management, G.I. Journal Club, and Research conferences are also held, primarily for the education of Fellows. At the present time, our gastroenterology and hepatology program will have a total of five funded clinical fellowships (not per annum).
Training is conducted among the various teaching hospitals, including Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Enlo Hospital.
Joint conferences, including a weekly division-wide GI clinical conference and a GI journal club, are regularly scheduled.
