Gastroenterology is a dynamic specialty, with a wide scope and opportunities for non-invasive and invasive diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the entire gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and the hepato-biliary system. As part of the discipline "Internal Medicine", in daily clinical, educational and scientific activities it interacts mainly with the internal disease yards and surgical units. In the Educational Sector /ES/ of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition are trained:
- V-th year medical students (in the 9th and 10th semesters), part of the discipline "Internal Medicine - Second Part" under a program including 12 lectures and 30 seminars/classes (the current plan for the academic year 2024/2025 is attached).
- V-th year medical students within the elective course "Ultrasound Diagnostics in Gastroenterology", in which there is great traditional interest.
- Trainee doctors from the VI year, part of the state internship in "Internal Medicine"; during dynamic and busy clinical work with hospitalized patients with abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, bleeding from GIT, chronic anemia, syndrome of weight loss, fever condition, jaundice, elevated liver enzymes, hepato and splenomegaly, portal hypertension, focal liver lesions, acute and chronic pancreatitis, cystic and solid tumors of the pancreas future medics receive intensive clinical experience.
- PhD students of scientific specialty "Gastroenterology".
- Young doctors referred for postgraduate qualification - postgraduate students in "Internal Medicine" and internal specialties within the module "Gastroenterology".
- Specialists in "Gastroenterology" who apply to the Medical University - Varna for theoretical training, with participation in a basic course in "Gastroenterology", theoretical and thematic courses in upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy, capsule endoscopy, abdominal ultrasound.
- Specialists who need individual training in the courses for Highly Specialized Activities /VSD/ in the field of abdominal ultrasound and endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic methods of upper and lower GIT.
- Specialists interested in individual courses in contrast-enhanced ultrasound, nutrition and dietetics.
- Students from Medical Colleges (nurses, assistant pharmacists) in the field of dietetics, therapeutic nutrition and bromatology.
- Students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine – within the framework of the practical exercises in "Internal Medicine"
- Students from the Faculty of Pharmacology for practical training in "Pharmacotherapy of Internal Diseases".
The basis of the Sector of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition is the Clinic of Gastroenterology at the University Hospital "St. Marina"– Varna, including 40 hospital beds and the modernly equipped abdominal ultrasound and endoscopy offices as well as a seminar room. Among the collaborators of the Clinic of Hepatogastroenterology are prominent specialists and teachers, such as Prof. Antonia Atanasova, Assoc. prof. Irina Ivanova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lili Slavcheva Trifonova – Grudeva, /Specialist in Nutrition and Dietetics/, Dr. Pavlina Boykova, Dr. Avgustina Georgieva, Dr. Asiyana Petrova, Dr. Denitsa Dukova, Dr. Teodor Nikolov, Dr. Yoana Stoyanova.
Leading research interests are in the field of:
- Prevention of GIT neoplasms (esophagus, stomach, colon) by knowing the risk factors, detecting and treating precancerous lesions;
- A modern approach to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD);
- Diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of patients with chronic viral (B, C, D) hepatitis, autoimmune liver diseases, Wilson's disease;
- Prevention and early diagnosis of hepatocellular cancer: by treating patients with hepatitis B and C, modifying correctable risk factors and screening ultrasound.
- The role of multiparametric ultrasound in hepatology.
These areas are reflected in the daily clinical work, in the traditional Patient Registries, in current doctoral programs, participation in multicenter clinical trials and projects.
All employees of the clinic are members of the Bulgarian Scientific Society of Gastroenterology, as well as have various participation in the Bulgarian Association for the Study of the Liver /BgASL/, the Bulgarian Association of Ultrasound in Medicine /BAUM/, as well as in various international organizations - EASL (European Association for Liver Research), ECCO (European Crohn-Colitis Organization), ESGE (European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) and others.
The current head of the Educational Sector of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition is Associate Professor Dr. Irina Ivanova Ivanova.
