Mission
The mission of the UCHealth Parkview Gastroenterology Fellowship Program is to provide excellent patient care and service to Southeastern Colorado. In doing so, we produce a well-rounded general specialist who is proficient in gastroenterology and exhibits empathy toward patients.
Vision
The vision of the UCHealth Parkview Gastroenterology Fellowship Program is to become the best fellowship program in the Western United States through excellent patient care, continuous quality improvement initiatives and outstanding graduate medical education.
Fellowship description
The Fellowship program seeks to provide candidates with the opportunity to become consultant level subspecialists, qualified to function as independent resources for the communities in which they practice. We provide intensive clinical exposure and an extensive didactic program, in which the Fellow is expected to actively participate as both a student and trainer. We provide an introduction to clinical research and opportunities to participate in active research projects are available. However, this is not a research based fellowship program and candidates anticipating careers as physician-researchers are encouraged to seek training in programs more closely suited to their chosen career paths.
Fellowship application
All applications for the UCHealth Parkview Gastroenterology Fellowship Program shall be submitted through ERAS. Our UCHealth Parkview fellowship programs are all dually accredited and will be accepting both DO and MD applicants. However, regarding sponsorship, we will only be considering J-1 visas with sponsorship through ECFMG on a case-by-case basis.
Fellowship overview
Clinic Experience
- 3 years clinical.
- Mandatory research time throughout all three years, more heavily emphasized in first two years of fellowship.
- First year fellows will complete a half day continuity clinic twice per week. Second and third year fellows will complete a half day of clinic once per week. The days assigned will be dependent on whether they are in Clinic A, Clinic B or Clinic C.
The fellowship training program is a full-time training program that must be of a minimum of 36 months in duration.
- A minimum of 33 months must include supervised management of patients (clinical rotations).
- A minimum of 12 months of training must be spent in any combination of the following.
- Inflammatory bowel disease, endoscopic ultrasound, transplant medicine, motility, nutrition, hepatology, oncology, biliary tract disease, advanced endoscopy including ERCP.
- A minimum of five months must be spent in a hepatology rotation.
- A minimum of one month rotation must focus on gastrointestinal motility disorders.
Fellowship requirements
Internal Medicine sub specialties have, as their base, excellence in Internal Medicine. The Fellowship Program seeks to build on previously established knowledge and skills. and the successful candidate will demonstrate competence in the broad field of Internal Medicine. Excessive exposure to Gastroenterology during an Internal Medicine Residency, thus limiting training in the other aspects, does not optimally prepare a physician to specialize in these fields. The well-rounded candidate, demonstrating mastery of the primary specialty, will ultimately become a better consultant and physician. During the course of the Fellowship program, the trainee will spend a considerable amount of time on services other than Gastroenterology. These rotations are expected to broaden the knowledge and experience of the Fellow in such areas (i.e. radiology, pathology, surgery, infectious disease) which directly impacts patients with gastroesophageal illness.
The program sees the Fellow gradually assuming responsibility under the supervision of both the rotation supervisor and the Program Director, and it is expected that the trainee will interact closely with attending physicians and other consultants. The Fellow serves as an educator, mentor and supervisor for junior house-staff, and is also expected to serve as a resource and aid to the nursing staff of the hospital. The Fellow will be assigned to medical staff committees in a nonvoting status with responsibilities commensurate with level of training and skill. Administrative responsibilities are assigned under the supervision of the Program Director. In order to function effectively in the medical environment, the Fellow must become aware of costs, cost containment efforts and the medical-legal implications of clinical decisions.
Fellows will gain outpatient experience in the private offices of faculty members, typically once per week for an average of 4 hours.
The Fellow is encouraged to prepare an annual scientific paper upon a subject acceptable to the Program Director. The paper is to be suitable for publication and, following approval by the Program Director and Director of Medical Education (DME) / Designated Institutional Official (DIO), should be considered for submission to an appropriate peer-review journal. The paper may take the form of an independent research project, a case report and review of the literature, or such other form as the Program Director and DME / DIO may approve. If the paper is accepted for presentation at a national conference, the program will pay for the day of the presentation and one travel day associated with the conference. There may a possibility of coordination with the basic science or translational research departments at CSU-Pueblo for research projects as well.
It is anticipated that the Fellow will maintain membership in the American College of Gastroenterology. During the course of the Fellowship program the Fellow is encouraged to attend at least one of the annual meetings of these organizations. The choice of meetings is subject to the approval of the Program Director. The goal is for the Fellow to gain exposure to the professional societies they will interact with for the remainder of their career.
The Fellow is expected to gain competence in the clinical and ancillary evaluation of patients presenting with symptoms potentially arising from gastroesophageal illness.
Faculty and attending physicians
Christopher Calcagno, DO, PharmD
Our Program Director, Christopher Calcagno, MD, graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy with a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree and completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Christiana Hospital in Delaware. Afterwards, he attended Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with an Army Health Professions Scholarship. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Gastroenterology Fellowship at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and completed his military service as Chief of Gastroenterology and Medical Director of the Endoscopy Center at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, TX, for which he was awarded the Army Meritorious Service Medal.
He specializes in colon cancer screening, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hemorrhoid banding, liver disease and other gastrointestinal disorders, and provides a wide variety of invasive and non-invasive treatments.
Paula Dionisio, MD
Paula Dionisio, MD, a Pueblo native and graduate of Central High School, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 3 years before attending Georgetown University School of Medicine. She then completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Gastroenterology Fellowship at the esteemed Mayo Clinic.
She specializes in colon cancer screening, liver disease, and all gastrointestinal disorders, including reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and Celiac Sprue, and provides a wide variety of non-invasive treatments.
Lirio S. Polintan. MD
Lirio S. Polintan, MD, has been practicing in Pueblo since 1981. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association. He is also a member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
He is experienced in diagnostic EGDs, colonoscopies, and therapeutic endoscopic procedures including ERCP, papillotomy, stent insertion, PEG-PEJ insertion, esophageal motility studies, and studies of liver disease.
Sung Yang, MD
Sung Yang, MD is the UCHealth Parkview Gastroenterology team’s newest addition, joining the team with 33 years of experience. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, and attended Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine for medical school and completed his residency at the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine. He received his gastroenterology fellowship training at Wayne State University, and specializes in celiac disease, acid reflux and GERD, Hepatitis C, IBS, ulcerative colitis, hemorrhoid, abdominal pain and colonoscopy.
Douglas Adler, MD
Douglas Adler, MD, attended SUNY at Binghamton as an undergraduate and received his MD from Cornell University Medical College. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, and completed both a general GI fellowship and a therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Following that, he returned to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for a fellowship in endoscopic ultrasound. Previously a tenured Professor of Medicine and Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy at the University of Utah, he is currently the Director of the Center for Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy at Centura Health in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of 500 scientific publications and 8 GI textbooks.
