Dr. Pradnya Mitro’s former gastrointestinal health practice Digestive Disease Consultants merged with another practice to create Fresno Digestive Health, where four of 13 practitioners are women. Photo by Ben Hensley

Family history can play a crucial role in our career choices. Dr. Pradnya Mitro, president of Fresno Digestive Health, is where she is today thanks largely to two influences — her family history and her ability to connect with those like her.

Mitroo grew up in New Jersey before attending Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Part of why she went into medicine is because her mother battled with gastrointestinal issues that occurred after a surgery. For years she experienced firsthand the challenges that her mother’s condition placed on the family.

“Basically, she went from physician to physician, [them] saying ‘it’s all in your head,’” Mitroo said about her mother. “At that time it was mostly male GI doctors, and basically she was told ‘there’s not much we can do.’”

Mitroo said many women suffer and live with the same situation. A number of factors including anxiety, depression, diet and even stress can cause flare ups.  When those factors meet with gastric issues, the problems can become challenging to diagnose and treat individually.

That’s why Mitroo and her fellow practitioners at the newly formed Fresno Digestive Health focus not only on the issues that are directly creating symptoms in patients, but the reasons behind those issues.

“Gut health is a very important thing,” Mitroo said. “In general, in the Central Valley, it’s actually been very hard for patients to have easy access.”

Earlier this month, Digestive Disease Consultants — Mitroo’s former practice — merged with Fresno Gastroenterology, expanding the combined practices’ total physician count to 13 at 1189 E. Herndon Ave.

Mitroo and her fellow practitioners at Fresno Digestive Health focus on a holistic approach to medicine and gut health, emphasizing the importance of gut health in relation to a number of common conditions.

One of those conditions is stress.

Mitroo said that many female patients are hesitant to seek help from a male GI doctor. Only 18% of the gastrointestinal specialist workforce is made up of women.

Mitroo said that many women prefer female doctors, adding that, while not always the case, many of her patients had been told “it’s all in your head” by other doctors before visiting Mitroo’s practice.

When Mitroo first came to Fresno, her practice only had two female GI doctors. Since then, and after the merger, they have doubled their numbers to four.

Mitroo personally experienced the affirmation of learning from other female physicians during her fellowship training in gastroenterology.

She said it also gave her a sense of belonging in the field.

“I’ve really tried to do that with our newest female physician who has joined us,” she said. “I think the mentorship is very important.”

All of the physicians at Fresno Digestive Health are members of the Central California Endoscopy Center — one of the largest endoscopy centers in California.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. We know we practice medicine the same way,” she said. “It makes sense that we would merge together. Each of us feel comfortable that if the other one had to take care of our patient in the hospital, that they would do an amazing job.”

Moving forward, Mitroo hopes that the strength of the newly merged practice will enable them to take another step towards becoming the “Stanford” of Central California — seeing patients from all over the Valley and, eventually, offering clinical trials without needing to send patients to the Bay Area for specialized treatment options.

As a larger physician group, Mitroo also hopes that Fresno Digestive Health will be able to specialize in different areas, continuing to expand their footprint in gastric health.