The Digestive Disease Fellowship Program Commits to Ethical, Equitable, and Transparent Recruitment Procedures

Our program’s mission statement and commitment to diversity/anti-racism

• Our mission is to continue the long tradition of training future academic leaders in Gastroenterology. As one of the oldest GI training programs in the United States, we are committed to training physicians who proudly deliver world class, quality patient care driven by the principles of scientific research, evidence-based medicine and compassionate, empathetic care to patients and their families. We recognize and support the mission of our parent institutions, The University of Cincinnati, The University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the Department of Internal Medicine, to provide advanced medicine and improved health care for all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, geography or ability to pay. We support the efforts of our University to promote ground breaking scientific medical research and educational advances to provide the best for our trainees, our faculty, our patients and their families and our community as a whole.
• In recruitment of faculty, fellows and support staff, the Division of Digestive Diseases does not discriminate regarding age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, ancestry, financial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, veteran status or protected veteran status, or geography. This is consistent with, and supports the Diversity Policy of our Parent Institution and our Department.
• Faculty Diversity: Comments from our Division Director: The Division of Digestive Diseases has been a leader in recruitment of underrepresented faculty for many years. Carethers et al, (Gastroenterology 2019) reports that less than 10% of academic faculty positions in Gastroenterology are occupied by URMs including African/Blacks, Hispanic/Latinos and American Native/Pacific Island representatives. Furthermore, only 12.1% of candidates in the Gastroenterology pipeline in 2017 were classified as URM. The 5-year trend is stable or decreasing.
• Our current MD faculty with primary University affiliations number sixteen. Three (18.75%) are classified as URM. We continue to seek qualified candidates and utilize medical center resources aimed to diversify the workforce as we both expand and replace faculty who have departed.
• Fellowship Diversity: Comments from our Program Director for the Fellowship: I believe that diversity amongst our fellows is critical to keeping the program stimulating, creative and growing. I actively seek a group of applicants who are diverse in all regards. My personal statement on our Website emphasizes the importance that I believe diversity plays in our training program.
• The Diversity Policy of UC Health: UC Health is committed to act pro-actively, to ensure that applicants and employees are treated without regard to age, race, color, religion, genetic information, ancestry and military status or protected veteran status, sex, national origin, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or any other status protected by applicable law.

Key qualities we look for in applicants who will become our future fellows

Our Fellowship receives between 400 and 500 applications per year. This number is rising. This is an international pool and applicants are not limited to the United States. Selection of applicants for interviews is based on overall academic performance and life experience, social citizenship (giving back to their training institutions or their community) and a shared philosophy with our Program. We need to be compatible in order to mutually meet each other’s personal and professional needs. We offer a rigorous academic training program. Each applicant is accessed for their ability to meet our academic standards and their ability to become part of our professional family. We support the Diversity Policy of our parent Institutions.

How we review applications and invite for interviews

When applications are visible to our Program in ERAS, all applicants are reviewed personally and solely by the Program Director. This is done early in the application season. Although the list of candidates will be reviewed again later in the cycle, interview selection is made early in the process. We set up interviews immediately thereafter. All personal statements are reviewed by the Program Director as well as all letters of recommendation. The entire ERAS application is reviewed carefully. Emphasis is placed on candidates who have demonstrated a commitment to their education, their service to others, and their contribution to learning. Applicant’s life experience is a critical part of the selection process. Just being a good test-taker or a prolific researcher is not the foundation of our Program. Successful candidates are those who are academic achievers but also people who are students of life and who share their discoveries with those around them. Our Program grows and remains vibrant by recruiting fellows with varied but compatible life experiences.

Our interview committee

All members of the interview committee have access to the applicant’s entire ERAS application. In addition, the Program Director provides a summary of each candidate’s background including pertinent life experiences, academic records, and letters of recommendation. The Associate Program Director does a review of the applicant’s research activities that are provided to the interviewing faculty. All of this information is given to the faculty in advance of the interview day. Our interview committee changes year-to-year based on faculty responsibilities in our program and availability. Our core clinical faculty are usually the centerpiece of our interviewing committee. A V.A. faculty member is always involved in our interviewing. Chief fellows may also be involved in interview day. All candidates are interviewed by four faculty members and/or a chief fellow. Each interviewer is asked to write up a review of the candidate using an assessment template that they are provided. Apart from the template they are asked to rate and assess the candidate’s overall qualifications and suitability for Fellowship at the University of Cincinnati. Faculty are encouraged to reach out to colleagues from an applicant’s home institutions. All interview templates, along with faculty comments, are returned to the Program Director who reviews this information. We consider the interview to be one of the most important criteria for selection into our Program.

Our interview day

• We will continue only virtual interviews for the 2021 – 2022 cycle. We considered doing a hybrid model of interviews but feel this is discriminatory for those who choose not to or cannot come for an in-person visit.
• The Program Director meets with all applicants together and then, during the interview day, every applicant has a 30-minute interview with the Program Director privately. The Program Director is the only person to interview every applicant. All faculty-applicant interviews are 30 minutes.
• Candidates have the opportunity to virtually meet with current Fellows to learn about the program from their perspective.

Composing our final rank list

• The number of fellows selected each year is based on the number of fellows graduating in the upcoming year and the number of remaining fellows who wish to spend their third year in Transplant Hepatology.
• The Program Director and the Associate Program Director meet prior to the formal rank meeting. All candidates are reviewed and listed in the order they will be ranked. This rank list is then presented to the Rank Committee. This consists of faculty on the Interview Committee and any other faculty members who which to participate. At the rank meeting, most candidates are discussed at length. Any additional information that has been obtained about a candidate, such as a conversation with a colleague in another institution, is shared with the committee. At the end of the meeting, a final rank list is constructed. The Program Director has the final discretion to modify the rank list prior to submission. Based on mutual faculty respect this rarely happens. The rank list is submitted within 72 hours of the rank meeting.