Patrick D. Gerstenberger, MD

Dr. Gerstenberger has practiced at Digestive Health since 1985.   He specializes in gastrointestinal endoscopy and in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of problems of the intestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon), biliary tree (gallbladder and bile ducts) and pancreas.

After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley with high honors and distinction in general scholarship, Dr. Gerstenberger attended the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine in Boston and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Gerstenberger is a former President of the Medical Staff at Mercy Regional Medical Center and a former Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.  He has served on the governing boards of Mercy Regional Medical Center, the Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative (CORI) and the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers.  He has served on the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy's Risk Management Committee and is a past chair of the American College of Gastroenterology's Practice Management Subcommittee.  He has lectured and published research papers, reviews and book chapters addressing legal risk management issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy and endoscopic sedation.

Dr. Gerstenberger currently serves as a member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy's Practice Management Committee, the American College of Gastroenterology's Professional Issues (Ethics) Committee and the AGA-ASGE-ACG-AASLD's Joint Sedation Standards Workgroup.  He is a Regional Board Member of the American Gastroenterological Association's Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition and is the president of the La Plata County Medical Society.

In his free time Dr. Gerstenberger enjoys cycling, stand up paddle boarding, whitewater kayaking, and Nordic skiing.  He designed, built and maintains this website.

Dr. Gerstenberger's publications