Interview with Gastroenterologist Dr. Tauseef Ali
By the Colonoscopy.com Editorial Staff
Dr. Tauseef Ali is the chief of the gastroenterology section at the SSM Health Saint Anthony Hospital Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and has been in practice for almost 20 years. He leads the hospital’s Crohn’s and colitis program and facilitates monthly CCFA IBD support groups. He specializes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and has clinical interests in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, colorectal screening, hemorrhoid banding and general gastroenterology.
He is also a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in the section of Digestive Disease and Nutrition. He is currently serving as the American College of Gastroenterology Governor for the Oklahoma Chapter and is an active member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee and Diversity Inclusion Taskforce of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. His research interest is in sleep-related disorders in patients suffering from IBD.
An active user of social media, Dr. Ali feels it is important to empower patients with information so that they can make informed decisions.
“It is important to provide resources for patients to know what the different kinds of tests are, what they mean, what kind of diet you need to be on, how these tests are performed and what the pros and cons of each of them are,” he said.
Dr. Ali regularly tweets educational facts through @ibdtweets. He is also the founder and moderator of social media international IBD journal club, @ibdclub. He is also recognized as the community leader and moderator of online physician discussion forums ACG and CCFA IBD Circle.
“There needs to be a platform to teach patients how to do bowel preps ahead of a colonoscopy,” he said. “Each prep is different and high quality, educational videos can be beneficial for both doctors as well as the patients.”
Dr. Ali was selected as the CCFA visiting IBD fellow at the University of Chicago in 2008 and was the recipient of the AGA Bridges to Excellence Award to provide quality service to IBD patients.
The author of Crohn’s and Colitis for Dummies by Wiley Publishers, Dr. Ali is also a fellow member of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and has served on ACG International Relations, Training, Educational Affairs, Bylaws and Public Relations Committees. He is the incoming chair of the ACG PR Committee and has served as section editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the ACG Self-Assessment Test subcommittee.
An alumnus of King Edward Medical University, Pakistan, Dr. Ali completed his internal medical residency in 2006, and gastroenterology fellowship program in 2009 from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
He recommended setting up tutorial videos by March in honor of the Colon Cancer Awareness Month. “These videos will be a great service to both patients as well as physicians in their day-to-day practice,” he said.