Gastro Health’s Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center recently added a new gastroenterologist to its Kennewick team.

Dr. Amber Charoen is one of only a few female gastroenterologists working in the Columbia Basin in what is a male-dominated field of medicine.

Though she is a general gastrointestinal (GI) doctor, examining cases across the full spectrum for men and women, she completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Rhode Island Hospital through Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, which is one of only a few centers in the U.S. that provides training specifically in women’s gastrointestinal medicine, she said.

She said that though the GI tract is the same in both women and men, women’s bodies have unique anatomical features and functions that can cause different kinds of issues. 

Charoen said that though male physicians are perfectly capable of treating GI issues in women, sometimes female physicians have an edge, stemming from firsthand knowledge dealing with some of the same issues themselves.

“All the parts are the same, but we have different things like hormones, menstruation, gynecological issues, ovarian cysts, (polycystic ovary syndrome). … A lot of females are sensitive to foods and women are prone to having (irritable bowel syndrome) more so than men,” Charoen said.

She also said “pregnancy patients with inflammatory bowel disease and other complicated cases and females who have gone through a lot of vaginal delivery sometimes have long-term complications like stool incontinence and pelvic floor-type issues and tears which are very different from male anatomy.

“I have been fortunate to train in that kind of center as a female gastroenterologist taking care of those populations. This is my passion; I know exactly what they’ve gone through.”

Joining Gastro Health

Charoen moved to the Tri-Cities in January with her husband and baby daughter. She previously taught as an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center was founded in 2000 by Dr. Sittilerk Trikalsaransukh, known by patients as Dr. Sitti. He sold his independent practice to Gastro Health in April 2022 and continued working under them.

Gastro Health is a nationwide medical group made up of physicians and advanced practitioners specializing in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, nutrition and digestive health.

Charoen said she wanted to do something different after the birth of her daughter, seeking a better work-life balance.

“That’s why I decided to step down and be focused in the community. … I could do the same work, take care of patients. … I thought, ‘I want to be in a smaller town.’ I knew Dr. Sitti and he asked if I could come here and see his practice,” she said.

She decided to join Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center as its fourth physician.

From Thailand to Tri-Cities

Coming to Tri-Cities is only the latest stop on a professional journey that has brough Charoen across the world from her home country of Thailand. There, she completed medical school at Rangsit University, graduating with first-class honors and as valedictorian.

Her path to gastroenterology began with her dad.

Charoen explained how it is common for Thai people of her dad’s generation to develop hepatitis B due to repeat outbreaks of the body fluid-borne disease. He contracted it in utero from his mother.

During her childhood, Charoen’s father experienced health complications related to hepatitis B, but was ambivalent about going to the doctor for fear they would discover liver cancer.

When he did go to see a doctor, Charoen accompanied him. 

She said her father always encouraged her to pursue a career in medicine so that she could help him and others.

At one point, while Charoen was in high school, her dad had to have an endoscopy. Charoen went with him and witnessed him undergo the non-sedated procedure. She was so intrigued that she decided then and there that it was the branch of medicine she wanted to pursue.

She said with a laugh that American television buoyed her passion during medical school when she would watch shows like “ER” and “House.” 

“I was interested and saw America as such a great country. … I was ambitious; I wanted to excel and learn and have a lot of experience in the best of the best. … I wanted to come to America for the standard of care,” she said.

In her final year of medical school, she traveled to the U.S. with her new husband on their honeymoon. Charoen visited Johns Hopkins University, which had been ranked one of the best hospitals in the world.

She said she left incredibly inspired: “I went home and studied hard.” 

Charoen applied for an opportunity at Harvard Medical School that allowed international students to participate in a one-month rotation. She told her husband about her dream of practicing in America.

He encouraged her and gave up the career he had just begun in the financial sector to follow her. 

From Harvard, she secured a research fellowship specializing in the pancreas, nutrition and celiac disease and later applied for residency training in internal medicine at MetroWest Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine in Framingham, Massachusetts.

In the last year of her medical fellowship, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic, she received news that her dad had lung cancer.

“I put my training on hold to be with Dad, but the cancer was late-stage and he had a super uncommon type. It was very aggressive and did not respond to treatments,” she said.

She recalled how unexpectedly calm her dad was after being diagnosed and throughout the many medical appointments that followed. “He told me, ‘You are my doctor, you are taking care of me.’ He did not fear at all,” she said.

He died after two years of treatment.

Charoen went on to complete her residency, publish research on a diverse array of GI topics, and win awards for her research. 

Today, in addition to seeing patients at Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center, she is also a clinical assistant professor at Washington State University Tri-Cities and frequently gives lectures and presentations to students in the Trios Health medical residency program.

“Every time I see my patients, I always think of my dad asking me questions,” she said. “I see my dad in every patient I take care of. This is what he wanted me to do and it’s such a rewarding job where you can help people, calm them and help them from suffering. I’m so grateful and say all the time, ‘Thank you, Dad, for inspiring me to be a doctor when I was young.’”

Charoen said she looks forward to the future leadership opportunities that await her at Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center and through Gastro Health as the local clinic continues to expand.

She spoke highly of the world-class opportunities available in the U.S. in medicine. 

“Someone like me from another country was able to be an assistant professor at a big institution. It shows that if you work hard enough, you can be anything in this country. There is no limitation, nothing that can hold you,” she said.

Tri-Cities Endoscopy Center / Gastro Health: 7114 Hood Place, Kennewick; 509-734-4885; gastrohealth.com