Novel Interdisciplinary Gastroenterology and Parkinson's Disease Clinic in a Parkinson's Center of Excellence

Comprehensive management of Parkinson's disease (PD) symptoms should include addressing both motor and nonmotor symptoms (NMS). Gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations are the most common NMS in PD and can lead to significant impairment in quality of life (QoL), impaired medication absorption, and response to treatment. Therefore, the approach to managing GI symptoms in PD ideally should emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together experts across several disciplines to provide cohesive and comprehensive treatment. Our teams at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and University of Florida (UF) have developed a novel approach to incorporating gastroenterology and allied services to the delivery of neurologic care in our "PDGI clinic." In this review, we provide recommendations on how to establish an interdisciplinary clinic for the care of patients with PD (PwPD) based on our experience, including team building, operations, logistics, and curriculum building for education. Despite the emphasis in this review on management of GI symptoms, this interdisciplinary approach could be adapted for expert care of any NMS.