National APP week is celebrated each year during the last full week of September. This year, September 21–25, we recognize APPs under the theme “The Pulse of Progress: APPs Powering Tomorrow.” For gastroenterology, it is a fitting opportunity to celebrate the contributions APPs make today while looking ahead to the evolving role they will play in the future of GI care.
Over the past several decades, APPs have become integral to nearly every area of gastroenterology, from general GI to hepatology, inflammatory bowel disease, motility, advanced endoscopy, GI oncology, and other highly specialized areas of care. Today, APPs manage complex chronic disease, coordinate care across specialties, educate patients, and help them navigate increasingly complex diagnostic and treatment pathways.1 Within structured team-based models, APPs also play an important role in expanding access and helping address persistent gaps in GI care.2
Much of that work happens quietly and consistently through tasks such as managing a patient between infusions, evaluating an urgent referral, following up after a procedure, answering a patient’s questions or coordinating the next step in care. Together, these interactions improve access, continuity, and capacity to care for our patients. Evidence also demonstrates an impact on quality and outcomes. In cirrhosis care, APP involvement has been associated with higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma and variceal screening, greater use of guideline-directed therapy, fewer 30-day readmissions and lower mortality, with particularly strong outcomes in shared-clinic models.3 Similar quality benefits have been observed in chronic hepatitis B care, including the potential to extend access to rural and underserved communities.4
The impact of APPs, however, extends beyond day-to-day clinical care. As the profession has grown, so have opportunities to develop expertise and contribute through education, research, quality improvement, practice operations, leadership, and professional societies. These roles complement clinical work and strengthen collaboration with physician colleagues and the broader multidisciplinary GI team.
That continued development will be important as gastroenterology continues to evolve. New therapies, changing guidelines, artificial intelligence, advances in endoscopy and new models of care will require all members of the GI team to continue learning and adapting. At the same time, increasing demand for digestive health services, geographic disparities in access and limited endoscopy capacity continue to challenge our workforce.2 APPs have an important role in addressing these needs as part of a collaborative GI workforce, supported by appropriate education, competency standards and measures of quality.
Professional societies help create opportunities for APPs to learn, connect and contribute. Within ASGE, resources such as the Annual GI Advanced Practice Provider Course and APP Angle: Case of the Month provide education tailored to GI APP practice, while iGIE offers opportunities for learning and scholarly contribution. Practical Solutions also highlights the role APPs can play in practice operations and the continued evolution of GI care. Together with opportunities available throughout the broader professional community, these resources help APPs continue to develop throughout their careers.
APP Week is a chance to celebrate the contributions and recognize ethe colleagues who make a difference for our patients and teams every day. It is also an opportunity to share our expertise, mentor others, become involved in our professional community and continue finding new ways to grow.
The future of gastroenterology will be shaped by collaboration across the entire GI team. As our specialty evolves, so will the ways APPs contribute to patient care and the profession. This APP Week, we celebrate how far we have come and look forward to what comes next!
References:
- Enslin S, Kaul V. The Role of Advanced Practice Providers in Modern Gastroenterology Practice. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Jul 2024;22(7):1349-1352 e1. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2024.04.001
- Gandhi D, Hasan F, Yagnik K, et al. Disparities in Access to Gastrointestinal Care in the United States. Dig Dis Sci. Aug 2026;71(8):3805-3817. doi:10.1007/s10620-026-09821-w
- Tapper EB, Hao S, Lin M, et al. The Quality and Outcomes of Care Provided to Patients with Cirrhosis by Advanced Practice Providers. Hepatology. Jan 2020;71(1):225-234. doi:10.1002/hep.30695
- Kam LY, Huang DQ, Tobias AF, et al. Impact of advanced practice providers on characteristics and quality of care of patients with chronic hepatitis B. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. Dec 2022;56(11-12):1591-1601. doi:10.1111/apt.17254
Author
Sarah Enslin, PA-C, MS is a Physician Assistant at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY with over 10 years of experience as a practicing PA in GI. Sarah serves on several national GI committees and is a former member of the ASGE Practice Operations Committee and current member of the ASGE APP Committee. Sarah has several peer-reviewed publications to her credit, routinely lectures at the Rochester Institute of Technology PA Program and is a sought-after speaker regionally and nationally. She also participates in clinical research projects and is a preceptor for APP students from four different colleges and universities in the Upstate NY region.