Douglas A. Drossman, MD
Drossman Gastroenterology PLLC
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC

President, Drossman Center for the Education and Practice of Integrated Care LLC
President, Drossman Consulting LLC and Drossman Gastroentrology PLLC
Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Co-Director Emeritus, UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders

Dr. Drossman received his M.D. degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and obtained his medical residency at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and NYU – Bellevue Medical Center. He subspecialized in psychosocial (psychosomatic) medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and in Gastroenterology at the University of North Carolina.

In 2012, Dr. Drossman founded the Drossman Center for the Education and Practice of Integrated, LLC care as an entity to help train physicians in relationship centered biopsychosocial care with emphasis on communication skills and enhancing the patient doctor relationship. Some focus is on the care of difficult to diagnose and manage patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS.

Dr. Drossman also established Drossman Consulting, LLC to consult in the health care field including: academic programs in medicine, psychiatry and digestive diseases, Federal (NIH) or pharmaceutical grants as a mentor or consultant, gastrointestinal medical practices, pharmaceutical advisory boards, as health care foundations, medico legal groups, on-profit health care and educational and media companies.

Dr. Drossman is currently a Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine where he was on staff from 1977 through 2011. He was founder and co-director of the UNC Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders (since 1993). He was founder, past chair (1989-1993) and newsletter editor of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group of the AGA, Chair (since 1989) of the Rome Committees (Rome I II and III) and President of the Board of the Rome Foundation (since 2004), past Chair of the Functional GI American Digestive Health Foundation’s Digestive Health Initiative (1999-2001) and of the Motility and Nerve-Gut Section of the AGA Council (2003-2005). He is Past-President of the American Psychosomatic Society (1997), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology, and is on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Foundation for Functional GI Disorders (IFFGD). He has served on two committees of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Gulf War and Health, has been an Ad Hoc member of NIH- NCCAM Advisory board, and is on the NIH-National Commission on Digestive Diseases.

Dr. Drossman has written over 500 articles and book chapters, has published two books, a GI Procedure Manual, and textbook of Functional GI disorders (Rome I, II, III), and serves on six editorial and advisory boards in Gastroenterology, psychosomatic medicine, behavioral medicine, and patient health. He served 5-years as Associate Editor of the journal Gastroenterology and was the Gastroenterology Section Editor of the Merck Manual for 17 years.

Dr. Drossman’s research relates to the clinical, epidemiological, psychosocial and treatment aspects of gastrointestinal disorders. He has developed and validated several assessment measures (e.g., illness severity and quality of life questionnaires for IBD and IBS, and an abuse severity scale) for clinical research, is involved in psychosocial outcomes research, and has also studied brain imaging in IBS and abuse. He was principal investigator on several NIH sponsored research grants with over $15,000,000 in funding. This included a multi-center grant for treatment (antidepressant and cognitive-behavioral treatment) of the functional bowel disorders. He also consults with regulatory and pharmaceutical agencies regarding the design and evaluation of treatment trials. He is a recipient of the Janssen Award for Clinical Research (1999), the American Psychosomatic Society President’s Award (2003), the AGA Joseph B. Kirsner – Fiterman Award in Clinical Research (2005) the AGA Mentors Research Scholar Award (2007) and has received several “Who’s Who”, “Patient Choice” and “Best Doctors” citations over the past 15 years.

His educational and clinical interests relate to the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of patient care. He has produced numerous articles and videotapes on the biopsychosocial aspects of medical care, medical interviewing and the patient-doctor relationship, and received second prize at the 1997 AMA International Film Festival. As a Charter Fellow of the American Academy of Communication in Health Care, he facilitates workshops to develop clinical skills in physician-patient communication. He received the AGA Distinguished Educator Award (2004), was identified as a “Best Gastroenterologist” in Men’s Health (2007) and in Woman’s Health (2008) and is featured as one of 12 gastroenterologists in a book “Best Gastroenterology Practices” (2007).

Dr. Drossman has been in academic medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine for 40 years and has committed his career as a gastroenterologist to patients in the field of functional GI and motility disorders, and also crossover areas of medicine, and psychosomatic medicine. With a passion for helping patients and teaching clinical and communication clinical skills, he trained with Dr. George Engel and became a charter fellow in the Amercian Academy on Physician and Patient (now American Academy of Communication and HealthCare) that teaches academicians communication skills. He has held leadership positions in Gastroenterology organizations including the American Gastroenterology Association and the Rome Foundation, has performed several NIH funded studies, studied the clinical aspects of mind-body interactions and the biopsychosocial model, and is recognized internationally as a teacher of gasteroenterology, communication skills and the doctor-patient relationship. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as well as completing postgraduate residencies and certification in internal medicine, additional fellowship training in psychosocial medicine and fellowships and certification in Gastroenterology.

Content available soon!

 Effects of a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet on Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

The purposes of this study are to prospectively determine the effect of a very low carbohydrate diet on quality of life and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D); and to determine possible physiological correlates of symptom improvement, as related to post-prandial 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) release, weight loss and fiber content.

Enrollment: 17
Study Start Date: August 2009
Study Completion Date: May 2010
Primary Completion Date: May 2010 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)


 Open Label Seroquel (Quetiapine) Study for Treatment Resistant Functional Bowel Disorder

Purpose: We are proposing to examine, via open label trial, the use of Seroquel® for patients with moderate to severe functional bowel symptoms who are not receiving adequate relief from their symptoms on their present regimen of SNRI or TCA antidepressant agents.

Participants: Primary eligibility will be determined of patients at The UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders Clinic who score in the moderate to severe range on the Functional Bowel Disorders Severity Index (FBDSI = 37) who have failed or have incomplete treatment responses of medications including at least one prior trial of antidepressant medication.

Procedures (methods): We will monitor several patient and symptom related outcomes, as well as evaluate health related quality of life, psychological distress and related psychosocial measures to determine if the addition of Seroquel® over and above the use of an antidepressant improves clinical response based on an adequate relief measure as well as selected secondary outcomes. We will also determine when treatment benefit is related to effects on pain, the associated psychological co-morbidities seen in this population, or both factors.

Enrollment: 25
Study Start Date: February 2008
Study Completion Date: May 2012
Primary Completion Date: January 2012 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

    Webcasts

    One Size Does NOT Fit All

    Darren Brenner, MD ,Christina Hanson, FNP-C & Gregory Sayuk, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS

    Christopher Chang, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS

    Anthony Lembo, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    Review of ACG/AGA Guidelines on IBS Treatment

    Baharak Moshiree, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS Headlines 2022

    Gregory Sayuk, MD, MPH

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    eMonograph

    Up-To-Date Diagnosis and Management of IBS and chronic Constipation in Primary Care

    view details >

    Understanding and Managing IBS and CIC in the primary care setting

    view details >

    An Evidence-Based Approach to IBS and CIC: Applying New Advances to Daily Practice

    view details >

    Advances in IBS

    view details >

    IBS News Tonight

    view details >

    Gastroparesis: Diagnosis and Management

    view details >

    Managing the Gastrointestinal Effects of Opioids

    view details >

    Implementing Effective Patient Communication Skills in IBS

    view details >

    Webcasts

    One Size Does NOT Fit All

    Darren Brenner, MD ,Christina Hanson, FNP-C & Gregory Sayuk, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS

    Christopher Chang, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS

    Anthony Lembo, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    Review of ACG/AGA Guidelines on IBS Treatment

    Baharak Moshiree, MD

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    IBS Headlines 2022

    Gregory Sayuk, MD, MPH

    Didactic Lecture

    view details >

    Dinner Meetings

    Content available soon

    Audiocasts

    Content available soon!

    Content available soon!

    © Copyright 2013-2024 GI Health Foundation. All rights reserved.
    This site is maintained as an educational resource for US healthcare providers only. Use of this website is governed by the GIHF terms of use and privacy statement.