In the specialty of gastroenterology and digestive disease, the focus of care should be on prevention. Lifestyle, physical fitness and mental wellbeing, and attention to the diet can minimize or eliminate many of the symptoms that require a visit to the gastroenterologist. In addition, adherence to well-developed guidelines for cancer screening can detect GI lesions in their earliest stages and often lead to a complete cure. The gastroenterologist is uniquely positioned at the interface between the primary care physician and the surgeon to provide pain-free, minimally invasive evaluation and treatment of digestive diseases.