Michelle Hughes, MD, assistant professor of digestive diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) has been selected as a member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy’s (ASGE) 2022 Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Class for Early career women in gastroenterology.
LEAD is a 12-month program that offers female gastroenterologists the opportunity to enhance their leadership and career development skills through education, coaching and professional network building. The goal of the LEAD program is to provide gastroenterologists with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop the path to leadership within academic or private medicine.
Hughes is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the practice of gastroenterology in the clinical setting, a role also known as GI hospital. She is committed to providing comprehensive and compassionate care for acute conditions involving the gastrointestinal tract for hospitalized patients. She is interested in quality improvement and clinical research on patient-centered and general GI issues, which she takes up in her role as medical chief of quality and safety for the Digestive Health service line. She works closely with interns and is heavily involved in medical education at the student, resident and fellow level.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to participate in this year’s ASGE LEAD program,” said Hughes. “It’s a great opportunity to enhance my leadership skills, grow professionally, and build connections with amazing women in gastroenterology across the country.”
In December 2021, Hughes was course director and speaker at the first international conference on developing an intramural gastroenterology program. “The GI Hospitalist Model: Addressing the Needs of Hospital-Based Care”, at YSM, was organized under three themes: the state of inpatient GI care and the role of GI hospitalists; the benefits of GI hospitalizations in clinical and non-clinical areas (education and research); and developing a GI hospitalization program. The discussions were led by Hughes and her colleagues and collaborators from YSM and from other academic institutions and private practices.
Hughes was also honored as one of the 33 “Rising Stars”, in Connecticut Magazines 2022 “Top Doctors” issue. According to the magazine, the Rising Stars are Connecticut doctors who are too early in their careers to earn a Top Doctors designation, but were selected for recognition based on peer nominations and recognition from peers. outstanding achievements and dedication to the field of medicine.
“Michelle is not only an outstanding clinician, but also a national leader in the new GI hospital subspecialty,” said Loren Laine, MD, chief of digestive diseases. “We are very fortunate to have her on our Digestive Diseases division at Yale.”
Hughes received her medical degree with honors from Albany Medical College in 2013. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Boston Medical Center and then completed her gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, in 2019.
She treats a variety of conditions, including gastrointestinal bleeding, inflammatory bowel disease, evaluation and management of nutritional disorders, removal of foreign bodies, and diagnostic workup of gastrointestinal malignancies. She performs the following procedures: esophagogastroduodenoscopy (a diagnostic endoscopic procedure for the upper digestive tract, also known as EGD), colonoscopy, feeding tube placement and removal, and video capsule endoscopy.
Since the founding of one of the first sections of hepatology and then gastroenterology more than 50 years ago, Yale’s Digestive Diseases Section has had a lasting impact on research and clinical care in gastrointestinal and liver disease. To learn more about their work, visit Digestive Diseases†