Allyson Bush, MD

I am a pediatric gastroenterologist at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. I care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, special nutritional needs, constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, short bowel syndrome, celiac disease, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, failure to thrive, abdominal pain disorders, pancreatitis, liver disorders and other GI concerns.

I was drawn to medicine for its hands-on approach to helping people using science. In pediatric gastroenterology, the diseases that we treat can truly shape a child’s quality of life. Working with children makes practicing medicine extra fun and I get to impact both their lives and the lives of their families. I am also drawn to the fact that nutrition is vital for both prevention and treatment in this field.

I enjoy developing a trusting, working relationship with patients and families, which often starts from their most vulnerable moments. I take a thorough approach to investigating a problem and develop a personalized treatment plan that aims to help a child get back to being just a kid again. Most importantly, I explain things in ways that children and families can understand, because I believe that a management plan is best followed when a family understands how and why each step of the plan is important. My hope is that I create an environment where children feel at ease and families feel that their concerns are heard.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing children thrive despite any limitations their GI disease may try to put on them. I also love when children take charge of their disease and learn to listen to their bodies.

In conjunction with my medical training, I completed a Master of Public Health, which enhanced my understanding of healthcare delivery, social determinants of health and providing care in a vast range of environments. I also completed a Master of Science in Human Nutrition, which provided a deeper foundation of clinical nutrition that I can apply to my gastroenterology practice.