Overview
The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of Kochi Medical School was started in 1978 under the professorship of Dr Kenichi Ito, followed by Prof. Yasutake Yamamoto, Prof. Saburo Onishi, Prof. Toshiji Saibara and now, since 2019, Prof. Kazushige Uchida. Since the foundation of the department, we have been contributing to community medicine, handling all aspects of gastroenteric, heptobiliary and pancreatic diseases. In particular, we have been focusing on treatments for malignant diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic cancer, treatments using endoscopic and interventional radiological techniques and those for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
With respect to research, a plenty of achievements have been published in the international journals in this 4 decades and we are promoting basic and clinical researches for areas of gastroenterology and hepatology, which are listed below. A comfortable atmosphere is provided for both students and residents to do both clinical and basic works, and for medical staff to help them learn various skills to be competent clinicians or researchers. Advanced instruction and training opportunities are also available for senior residents to become independent specialists in this area of medicine.
The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of Kochi Medical School will continue playing an active role in regional medicine, cooperating with other hospitals and clinics and in fostering young leaders who could contribute to the development of national or international medicine. Consultation with patients for diagnosis or treatment is always welcome, and we look forward to seeing motivated young doctors who want to join us from anywhere of the world.
