Douglas A Drossman MD

Summary

• I am a board certified gastroenterologist with joint training in psychiatry (psychosomatic medicine) focusing on brain-gut interactions in research, teaching and patient care. Throughout my professional career I have been committed to improving patient care within my practice of Gastroenterology, with training in communication skills (to improve the patient-doctor relationship) and research and educational expertise in mind-body illnesses and brain gut interactions. I have served in many roles at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Medical Center and elsewhere (CV and biosketch available). I have been a leader and organizer of several organizations, founder and now president of the Rome Foundation, founder and former head of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group of the American Gastroenterology Association as well as founder and co-director of the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders. I was a charter fellow of the American Academy of Communication in HealthCare, and was on the Board of Directors and Scientific Chair of the International Foundation for Functional GI Disorders, a patient advocacy group. I have received over $15 million in research grants and have presented the research through peer reviewed scholarly publications and at international scientific fora. For decades my clinical practice has attracted referrals of patients with the most complex and difficult to diagnose and treat functional GI disorders. I have used modern methods to educate physicians in these skills through on-site preceptorships, interactive video presentations, training workshops, digitally-based programs, and I have also educated patients through books and articles, news media and TV shows. These experiences have irrevocably led to my recent decision to focus on teaching clinicians to improve their dialog with patients in order to help reverse the failing healthcare system. Thus I have formed a specialty practice and an educational program as below.