John Corless Email & Phone Number

After completing my training in Internal Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, I joined its faculty as Chief of Medical Residents and subsequently went on to complete a fellowship in Gastroenterology at the Medical College of Georgia.  I accepted a faculty position at the Charleston VA Medical Center with a joint appointment at MUSC. I began a solo private practice in December 1984 and in 1985 partnered with Dr. William Brener to form Digestive Disease Associates; this later became Charleston Gastroenterology Specialists ("Charleston GI").In 2016, I was appointed Medical Director of the Charleston Endoscopy Center (CEC), having served several years as chairman of its Quality Improvement Committee (QIC). As Medical Director I oversaw 30 employees & a facility which provided over 12,000 diagnostic & therapeutic endoscopies to 10,000+ patients annually. The CEC was recognized for its excellence by the ASGE Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program. I was fully engaged in the private practice of gastroenterology until 6/30/18 when I completed my tenure at Charleston GI and assumed the role of emeritus physician. From 2018-2020 I worked part time at the Roper Hospice Cottage, a 20-bed inpatient hospice facility in Mount Pleasant SC that offers full hospice services in a serene and homelike atmosphere. During 2019 I was recruited for the position of staff gastroenterologist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center where I continue to provide outpatients with screening, diagnostic & therapeutic procedures of the upper and lower GI tract. In 2020 I became the President of the South Carolina Gastroenterology Association and have been dealing with the challenges imposed on every nonprofit group by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, it is important for an organization like ours to support its members and the patients they serve. After having to cancel our annual in-person SCGA meeting, I was able to put together an interactive virtual event attended by GI providers across SC. I also headed up a collaboration with the Ohio Gastroenterology Society to provide an accredited CME program to all our members. I have committed myself to the continuing challenge of keeping the SCGA fully engaged, relevant, and financially viable as we continue through this year and beyond.