What is a GI Doctor?

If you have recently been referred to a GI doctor, you may wonder what a GI doctor is and what areas of medicine they are trained to treat. A GI doctor is a doctor of gastroenterology and has taken specialized training on all areas of the gastrointestinal track.

• A gastroenterology doctor is an internal medicine doctor that has completed both three years of internal medicine residency along with specialized training on the specific condition of the gastrointestinal tract as well.

• A gastroenterology doctor is trained to diagnose and treat many common conditions of the gastrointestinal tract such as peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, colon and liver problems as well as gallstones and many other conditions that can afflict the gastrointestinal tract.

• A GI doctor is a type of specialist and is usually only visited when the patient has a referral from their primary physician. Most insurance companies only cover visits to specialty doctors when they are accompanied by a referral due to a problem that their primary physician cannot treat.

• If you wish to visit a gastroenterology doctor without a referral you will need to find out if the GI doctor you had in mind accepts patients without a referral. You can check online for GI doctors in your area by performing a search using the keywords "GI doctor," or "Gastroenterology doctor," along with the name of the city and state that you would like the doctor to be located in. Browse through the results and call each doctor individually to see if they are accepting patients without a referral.