Abstract

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on both global economy as well as the healthcare system. The long-term consequences of this contagion are yet to be witnessed. In this perspective, the field of gastroenterology also has an important part to play, as the virus very commonly affects the gastrointestinal tract, including the liver. In this brief review, we will first describe the common gastrointestinal and hepatic manifestations pertinent to COVID-19 and also discuss why the GI tract is frequently involved in this viral disease. Subsequently, we will analyze the constantly changing role of gastroenterologists in terms of their interactions with patients in the out-patients department, ward and endoscopy suite. We will also touch upon the different hurdles being faced by them during these testing times, dealing with the COVID-19 patients and at the same time engaged in an incessant struggle to maintain continuity of care for patients with pre-existing disorders of the digestive system. Finally, we will be discussing the problems and currently being encountered by fellowship training programs throughout the world and will try to provide certain practical solutions to some of them. Our overall aim of writing this review is to highlight the issues faced by present day gastroenterologist, so that concerned authorities and academic societies can offer guidance to alleviate these concerns without compromising standard of care of the patients.

Keywords: Gastroenterologist; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Pandemic; GI Tract

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Citation

Citation: Muhammad Kamran and Wasim Jafri. “The Evolving Role and Challenges Faced by Gastroenterologist in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond”.Acta Scientific Gastrointestinal Disorders 3.8 (2020): 44-47.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Muhammad Kamran and Wasim Jafri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.