Dr. David Robbins' medical career began in high school at the age of 16 when he studied to become an emergency medical technician (EMT) and joined the volunteer ambulance corps that eight months earlier had rescued him after a bad fall during an ice storm. His passion for medicine was born out of his experiences as the youngest ambulance driver in the sleepy suburban town where he attended high school. As an undergraduate at Columbia College, where he studied the history of medicine, David went on to become a director for the student-run university volunteer ambulance service and worked with a renowned surgeon at Harlem Hospital on community outreach projects to reduce urban pediatric trauma.

Shortly before graduating from Columbia, his dream of becoming a physician was realized when he got his acceptance letter to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. After completing his third year of medical school, David was invited to be one of nine medical students in the nation to participate in the newly formed Clinical Research Training Program and spent a year as a research fellow developing novel anti-cancer drugs for rare leukemias. He earned his M.D. degree with Distinction in Research and was inducted into the prestigious national honor medical society, AΩA.

Dr. Robbins completed his residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the country's top medical centers. The defining moment in his budding career as a gastroenterologist occurred during his internship year at HUP, when his father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Dr. Robbins returned to the top-ranked Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for a fellowship in digestive diseases and undertook additional training during a speciality fellowship in advanced, therapeutic endoscopy in Charleston, South Carolina. He also completed a master's degree (M.Sc.) in clinical research and biostatistics from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Dr. Robbins is a board-certified gastroenterologist practicing on the upper east side in Manhattan at Lenox Hill Hospital and is the fellowship director for the training program in gastroenterology at Lenox Hill. He is also the medical director for Manhattan's largest endoscopy center and oversees a large team of gastroenterologists, nurses, technicians and physician trainees. Dr. Robbins is an expert in both routine endoscopic procedures (such as endoscopy and colonoscopy) and complex, therapeutic procedures (endoscopic ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration and early cancer therapies). He has a special interest in gastrointestinal cancer screening, diagnosis and staging as well as routine digestive disorders. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine and enjoys a diverse career as a clinician, researcher and educator.Dr. Robbins has been inducted as a fellow in the three major professional societies, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American Gastroenterological Association, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He has been repeatedly recognized as a Top Doctor by Castle Connolly and a Best Doctor by New York Magazine. He lectures nationally and internationally on ways to improve the quality of healthcare and directs academic courses across the country for physicians and nurses. Dr. Robbins has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, editorials and book chapters. He frequently contributes his expertise to print and television media and has been featured as a medical expert for the major television networks and news outlets. See. Dr. Robbins in action In The Press at www.davidrobbinsmd.com

Dr. Robbins is probably best known for his reassuring bedside manner, clinical competence, and sense of humor. You may read patient reviews of Dr. Robbins' work at zocdoc.com and healthgrades.com. Read Dr. Robbins' favorite editorial, "Unsedated colonoscopy: just add water?".