The Department of Hepatology Pancreaticobiliary Sciences and Liver Transplantation at MGMCH, Jaipur, is headed by Professor Dr. VA Saraswat, MD, DM (Gastroenterology), FACG, MISG, FINASL, FSGEI. Dr. Karan Kumar, MD, DM (Hepatology), MAMS, Associate Professor, is the other faculty member.
Scope of Hepatology
Hepatology is one of the most exciting, rapidly expanding and ‘happening’ branches of Medicine, that offers a rapidly expanding range of life-saving, cutting-edge medical surgical, endoscopic and interventional radiologic management options. These include liver transplantation, the most complex surgery a human being can undergo. The spectrum of illnesses that are handled by the hepatologist include liver diseases due to alcohol (ALD), fatty liver (NAFLD; now termed Metabolic-associated Steatotic Liver Disease or MASLD), viruses, drugs, autoimmune disorders, vascular liver diseases, genetic liver disorders, liver cancer etc.
Severe, life-threatening liver diseases such as acute liver failure (ALF), acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), end-stage liver disease (ESLD) with its multifarious complications (variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, ascites, SBP, acute kidney injury, etc.) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are handled by hepatologists coordinating with multidisciplinary teams including specialists from Critical Care Medicine (CCM), HPB Surgery and Liver Transplantation (HPBS<), Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology (IR), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology and others. New protocols and algorithms are rapidly evolving and newer pharmacologic, interventional radiologic and surgical therapeutic options are now available that have to be used judiciously.
DM (Hepatology) Training Program
Our prestigious three-year DM Hepatology program provides a rigorous and immersive educational experience for physicians aiming to excel in Hepatology, Liver Transplantation and Pancreato-biliary Sciences. This includes presentation of teaching ward rounds, clinical case discussions, Journal Clubs, Seminars and research projects by the trainees, mentored by our experienced faculty as well as faculty lectures delivered by departmental faculty, in-house faculty from other departments and external faculty. During the course of this intense 3-year program, the student will learn management of patients with all types of diseases of the liver, pancreas and biliary tree listed above and will receive extensive exposure to the ins and outs of liver transplantation. The trainee will interact with senior faculty members of related departments about patient management on a day-to-day basis. The trainee will also be exposed to the management of all forms of pancreato-biliary diseases and to complex endoscopic procedures such as ERCP, EUS and other therapeutic endoscopic procedures Given that over 70 liver transplants are performed each year at this centre, students will gain proficiency in timely referral, complete evaluation of the prospective recipient and donor, their pre-, peri- and post-operative management as well as management of the long-term complications.
The trainee will have the opportunity to participate and present papers and posters in national conferences of leading academic associations (INASL, ISG, SGEI, LTSI, IHPBA) as well as local and regional conferences organized regularly in Jaipur. Given its strong focus on research, clinical practice, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams, this department will produce super-specialists who will be leaders in the field of Hepatology, Pancreatico-biliary diseases and Liver Transplantation.