Gastroenterology is a branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the organs from mouth to anus, along the alimentary canal, are the focus of this specialty.
The specialty of gastroenterology involves the diagnosis and management of patients with diseases of the intestines, liver and biliary tree, and pancreas.
Gastroenterology is largely an outpatient clinic specialty with a smaller proportion of patients needing hospital admission, for example, severe inflammatory bowel disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and gastrointestinal bleeding which usually requires joint management between physicians and surgeons to identify and manage the need and timing of surgery.
GI Surgery (Gastrointestinal Surgery) refers to a practice of surgery that focuses on the upper parts of the gastrointestinal tract.