Navigating the Clinical Component
This is a predominantly bread and butter gastroenterology practice with the volume to keep a productive endoscopist busy from the start. Procedures are currently scheduled months in advance, and you control the balance between clinic and endoscopy time. Physicians here structure their own schedules, and leadership measures success by provider satisfaction rather than mandated templates.
Patient Population
- Growing retirement community with steady migration from the Northeast
- Large, stable military population creating a reliable referral base
- Regional referrals for advanced therapeutics from Greenville, Wilmington, and Raleigh
- Favorable payor environment anchored by Medicare and military coverage
Procedural Mix
- Colonoscopy
- EGD
- ERCP
- EUS
- PEG placement
- Luminal stenting
- EMR
- Cryotherapy
One physician currently provides advanced therapeutic coverage, including ERCP, EUS, luminal stenting, EMR, cryotherapy, and PEG placements. Advanced skills are not required for this position, but the practice can support additional advanced coverage if you bring those interests. Liver biopsies are not performed. TIPS, liver transplantation, surgical oncology, and acute liver failure cases are referred to tertiary centers in Raleigh.
Schedule
Your weekly structure is negotiable and built around your preferences.
- Half-day clinic sessions averaging 8 to 10 patients
- Flexible allocation between clinic and endoscopy time
- Outpatient cases are kept in the endoscopy center whenever possible
- Hospital-based cases are reserved for patients who require the inpatient setting
Endoscopy Center
You will play an important role in continuing to develop the hospital-owned outpatient endoscopy center.
Endoscopy Snapshot
GI suites
3
Equipment
Olympus
Daily volume
18 to 20+ procedures
Colonoscopy turnaround
20 to 30 minutes
EGD turnaround
10 to 15 minutes
Anesthesia
Physician and CRNA support
Scheduling backlog
Procedures booked months in advance
- Ability to run 2 rooms simultaneously when appropriate
- Experienced, well-seasoned endoscopy nursing staff
- Dedicated inpatient GI suite at the hospital
Clinic Infrastructure
- 2 to 3 exam rooms per physician
- On-site laboratory, imaging, and infusion services
- Epic EMR across all care settings
- Dictation services and AI-assisted documentation
- Scribes available if desired
- Direct-access scheduling coordinator
APP Support
The practice utilizes 4 advanced practice providers who work independently with physician collaboration as needed.
- 3 clinic-based APPs and 1 hospital-based APP
- Independent clinic visits and follow-ups
- Hospital rounding and patient discharges
- Leadership is exploring adding APPs to the call structure
Call
Call is considered very manageable and is shared with the local private GI group.
Call Snapshot
Rotation
1:7
Type
Home call
Hospitals covered
1
Calls per shift
0 to 3
Separate ERCP/EUS call
None
- Physicians rarely need to come into the hospital; coming in is at your discretion
- Typical calls involve occasional food impactions or GI bleeds
- The hospitalist service admits all patients and consults GI when needed, with Haiku notification through Epic
- CarolinaEast holds no trauma designation, which keeps after-hours volume light
- Weekend and holiday schedules are set well in advance, and vacation coverage is coordinated easily between the two groups
Additional Opportunities
- Clinical trial participation available through the cancer center
- Collegial relationships with general surgery, colorectal surgery, radiology, emergency medicine, hospitalists, and critical care
- The medical staff includes a dedicated colorectal surgeon
- No current teaching responsibilities