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DR. GINA SAM Celebrity Gastroenterologist By bennett marcus
Institute of Wellness
Public health foundation
Dr. Gina Sam is one of New York City’s leading gastroenterologists. Dr. Sam has appeared with CBS News’ Dr. Max Gomez and has also been featured in InStyle, Refinery29, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan and more.
In addition to receiving her medical degree from Tufts University, Dr. Sam also earned a master’s in public health with a concentration in community health, and does a lot of outreach work with medical students in the Caribbean.
She is an expert in a specialized niche called “gastrointestinal motility,” which involves dysfunctions of the intestinal muscles. With more than ten years’ experience, Dr. Sam was the Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. On June 8th she will re-open her own practice in called The Institute of Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders and Integrative Health at a new location (800 2nd Avenue). She will celebrate the opening with a masquerade party celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month. Dr. Sam says, “In this niche in motility, much of the brain and gut is related,” she says. “Your GI tract is actually all lined with neurotransmitters like serotonin receptors. So if you just had a death in the family, your stomach is going to feel it. So I tell my patient, I’m not treating your GI tract, I’m treating you as a person. It’s an institute of wellness.”
Caribbean Heritage Dr. Sam is an immigrant, born in Trinidad, raised in the U.S., the first in her family to graduate college, the first doctor. She wears Louboutins and Chanel, but never forgets who she is or where she came from. “I tell my patients, If you were my mom and dad I would do this. And they’re part of my extende family, that’s how I feel about my patients, regardless of economic status.”
Gastroenterology Explained In laymen’s terms, Dr. Sam offers the analogy of an auto mechanic. “They look at the car and say okay, there’s no scratches on the Ferrari, no bumps on the bumper. What I do is more like the mechanic gastroenterologist in that I open up the car and I test the engine, the function of the GI tract.” “Very few people have the skills as well as the ability to do this niche because it involves specialized technology,” she explains. “And these include diseases that are unusual and rare.” She also treats more common conditions reflux and IBS, and screens patients for colon cancer.
Treats her patients like family This has been her philosophy throughout her career, and the reason she decided to start her own practice. She takes the time to listen to her patients, many of whom have seen multiple gastroenterologists before coming to her. This practice will also merge Dr. Sam’s medical expertise with hand-picked partners offering wellness and personal services for an integrated whole-body service. Think, acupuncturists, massage therapists and personal trainers
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She is in the process of starting the R and R Foundation for Global Health named after two friends who are no longer with us . This will be a gastroenterology mental health clinic for women, promoting health awareness and performing procedures like screening colonoscopies.