The Little GI Book: An Easily Digestible Guide to Understanding Gastroenterology

What's the difference between a subtotal colectomy and a total proctocolectomy? How can you tell if a patient has cirrhosis? If a patient is jaundiced, should you order an ultrasound, an MRI scan, or an ERCP?


The Little GI Book: An Easily Digestible Guide to Understanding Gastroenterology answers these questions and more. Primarily designed for those new to the world of gastroenterology and hepatology, The Little GI Book will help you learn the core concepts of digestive health and disease while on the go.

Portable and handy, this conversational-style book packs a big punch! The Little GI Book will prove invaluable to residents, students, nurse practitioners, office staff, industry sales force, and anyone who works in the GI industry but isn’t a gastroenterologist.

Since gastroenterology as a specialty involves many organs, Dr. Douglas G. Adler uses a novel organ-based approach to give a comprehensive, soup-to-nuts “field guide” to gastrointestinal anatomy, physiology, disease states, and treatment. The Little GI Book guides the reader through the entire gastrointestinal tract, starting at the top with the esophagus, ending at the bottom with the colon and rectum, and covering everything in between: the stomach, small intestine, liver, pancreas, bile ducts, and gallbladder.

Written in a friendly, relaxed style and illustrated with over 50 key images and figures, The Little GI Book helps cement important concepts without a hiccup. Readers can approach the material without fear, and even have fun learning!

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG, AGAF, FASGE received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York, NY. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Adler completed both a general GI fellowship and a therapeutic endoscopy/ERCP fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He then returned to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for a fellowship in endoscopic ultrasound. Dr. Adler is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. Working primarily at the University of Utah School of Medicine’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dr. Adler’s clinical, educational, and research efforts focus on the diagnosis and management of patients with gastrointestinal cancers and complex gastrointestinal disease, with an emphasis on therapeutic endoscopy. He is the author of more than 200 scientific publications, articles, and book chapters and is editor of the previously published books, Curbside Consultation in GI Cancers for the Gastroenterologist: 49 Clinical Questions and Self-Expanding Stents in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.