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Gastrointestinal pathology is the subspecialty of surgical pathology which deals with the diagnosis and characterization of neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases of the digestive tract and accessory organs, such as the pancreas and liver.
Gastrointestinal pathology (including liver, gallbladder and pancreas) is a recognized sub-specialty discipline of surgical pathology. Recognition of a sub-specialty is generally related to dedicated fellowship training offered within the subspecialty or, alternatively, to surgical pathologists with a special interest and extensive experience in GI pathology. There are approximately 30 gastrointestinal pathology fellowship offered within the United States (predominantly academic, and more recently three "corporate" fellowships). This translates to fewer than 40 fellowship trained gastrointestinal pathologists being trained annually in the United States each year.
Digestive diseases affect 1 in 5 Americans annually – at least 60 million people in the United States each year. Digestive diseases account for approximately 50 million physician visits, nearly 25 million endoscopic diagnostic procedures and over 20 million gastrointestinal specimens directed to pathologists – representing $87 billion in direct medical costs attributable to gastrointestinal disease. The demand for gastroenterology care and diagnostic procedures continue to increase, driven by an increasing incidence of gastrointestinal disease and the need for colorectal cancer screening in the aging U.S. population. By 2010, gastroenterologists will perform at least 40 million endoscopic procedures annually, translating into $40 billion endoscopy and $12 billion related gastrointestinal pathology expenses annually in the U.S.
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