Why Industry Collaboration Matters for Fellows
Dr. John Erikson Yap, associate clinical professor at the University of Utah, believes that early engagement with industry is essential in fellowship training. This belief is what drew him to the Laborie Fellows Advisor Program.
According to Dr. Yap, meaningful innovation in medicine rarely happens in isolation. Collaboration with industry provides opportunities to expand perspectives, test ideas, and accelerate advances that ultimately serve patients.
While partnerships can sometimes be viewed skeptically in academic circles, he argues that when approached ethically, they enrich both physicians and the field. “For us to innovate and expand, we need to collaborate with each other, with industry,” he states. “You need to focus on what your basis is. Ask yourself – Why are you doing this? It should always be about the patients and expanding innovation for the practice.”
Breaking Out of the Fellowship Silo
Dr. Yap points out that training within a single institution can be limiting. Fellows often only see the resources, approaches, and clinical culture of their own program. “When you begin fellowship, it can feel like you’re in a silo. You see only what your institution offers, but that’s just a single dot on the U.S. map — or the global map.”
This is especially true in areas such as GI motility, where many institutions lack specialized faculty or structured training. For him, industry-led educational opportunities help fill those voids, opening doors to training and mentorship that fellows might not otherwise receive.
The Value of Smaller, Interactive Programs
Large national meetings have their place, but Dr. Yap believes smaller, more focused sessions often deliver greater impact. These settings allow early-career physicians to engage directly with leaders in the field, ask questions, and build lasting professional connections.
Programs offered through industry partnerships, such as those organized by Laborie, create this kind of environment. “What Laborie is providing — smaller groups of education with leaders in the practice that the fellows can interact with and talk to personally — I think those are amazing avenues for early-career physicians.”
A Responsibility to the Next Generation
For Dr. Yap, working with fellows is a responsibility. He believes physicians must ensure the next generation is better prepared and better supported than they were. “If we fail to train our trainees, we fail our specialty. It’s our duty to help them surpass us.”
Moving the Specialty Forward
Ultimately, Dr. Yap views partnership with industry as a catalyst for advancing gastroenterology as a whole. By blending academic rigor with the innovative momentum of industry, he sees an opportunity to strengthen education, accelerate progress, and ensure that patient care remains at the heart of every advancement. “I do this work because I believe in moving the specialty forward,” he says. “Our responsibility is to create opportunities that will shape the future of GI.”
