James Alvarez, MD

Contact

James “Jimmy” Alvarez, MD

Position: GI Fellow - PGY6

Personal Statement:

What are your hobbies and favorite activities outside of medicine?  

I mostly enjoy running, playing tennis, spending time with my wife, our newborn son, Daniel, and our pet dog, Cloud, and cat, Yoshi. When I do have some personal time, I enjoy playing video games or teaching myself an odd skill or two.

What are your hobbies and favorite activities outside of medicine?  

  • I like to spend my free time outdoors exercising, and hiking with my dog. I tremendously enjoy growing and gardening Phalaenopsis orchids in my spare time.

What is the best thing about San Antonio?

  • San Antonio is a culturally rich city with so many things to do in the city and the surrounding areas! There’s beautiful scenery at the nearby Hill Country. There’s historical sites like the Alamo and the Missions. For people that love trails, there’s the Greenway where I enjoy doing some running. Also breakfast tacos. Can’t forget the breakfast tacos!

Why would you recommend the UTHSA GI fellowship?

  • We have an incredible staff that are enthusiastic about teaching and the work environment with my co-fellows is both collegial and fun.

Hometown:

  • San Antonio, TX

Education

Residency: UT Health San Antonio
Medical School: UT Health San Antonio

Research

My current research includes examining the financial aspects of integrating Endoscopic Submucosal Dissections into a hospital based practice and examining the prognostic applicability of following serum ferritin in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients.

What are your clinical interests? 

  • My interests include general GI, IBD, and quality improvement.
  • My interests primarily involve luminal GI but I also have general interests in motility and IBD. I also have an interest in teaching.

Awards & Accomplishments

ACG 2021 – Integration of Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection in a Hospital-Based Practice: A Financial Review (ACG Presidential Poster Award)

Publications

Alvarez J, Anderson JM, Snyder PL, et al. Evaluation of the Forced Inspiratory Suction and Swallow Tool to Stop Hiccups. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(6):e2113933. Published 2021 Jun 1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13933 

My current research is involving quality improvement projects such as predicting bowel prep failure in patients undergoing colonoscopy, increasing vaccination rates for HPV in our IBD clinic, researching the utility of point-of-case-ultrasound in the GI clinic, among others!