Southcoast Health System has announced that gastroenterologist Q. Cindy Gao, MD, has joined Southcoast Physicians Services and will see patients at her office in Wareham.

Gao will practice at Southcoast Health System at Rosebrook located at 100 Rosebook Way, Suite 200, in Wareham. Southcoast Health System at Rosebrook is a full-service medical practice location that brings together 18 primary care and specialty physicians, the Southcoast Center for Weight Loss, and comprehensive outpatient radiology and laboratory services. Gao is currently accepting new gastroenterology patients.

Gao earned her medical degree from Hunan Medical University in Changsha, Hunan, China and her Master of Science degree in the Department of Pediatrics from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Gao completed her residency in internal medicine at Lahey Clinc Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., and her gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago.

Gao has special interest in liver diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, celiac disease, colon cancer screening, and women's health, in addition to general gastrointestinal diseases. Gao has many years experience in academic medicine and medical research. Her research has been presented in various meetings and she has been published in multiple medical journals.

Gao is board certified in internal medicine. She is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Medical Association.

Southcoast Health System is a community-based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes the three hospitals that make up Southcoast Hospitals group: Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

Southcoast provides advanced clinical services, such as open heart surgery, angioplasty and heart rhythm services, comprehensive cancer care, neurosurgery, weight loss surgery, orthopedic surgery, advanced imaging services, and is the only provider of maternity services in the region. Southcoast is a not-for-profit charitable organization that depends on the support of the community to provide services. More information is available online at www.southcoast.org. Connect to Southcoast through social media at www.southcoast.org/connect/.