Notable Alums

John

Specialty: Gastroenterology

Graduation Year: 1989

John Carethers

John Carethers, M.D. ’89, is the John G. Searle Professor of Gastroenterology and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and professor of Human Genetics for the University of Michigan Medical School.

Dr. Carethers received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Wayne State University in 1985, then earned his medical degree in 1989. He completed a residency at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital in 1992 and a fellowship in Internal Medicine Gastroenterology with the University of Michigan Health System in 1995.

From 1995 to 2009, Dr. Carethers held various posts with the University of California, San Diego, including assistant professor of Medicine in Residence, Gastroenterology Fellowship director, associate professor of Medicine, chief of the Gastroenterology Division and tenured professor of Medicine. He also worked for the VA San Diego Healthcare System as chief of the Gastroenterology Section.

He took his current position with the University of Michigan in 2009.

Dr. Carethers’ clinical and research interests are hereditary colon cancer syndromes. He is the principal investigator on two projects funded by the National Institutes of Health.

He holds hospital privileges at U-M Hospitals and Health Centers and the Veteran Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and American Society of Internal Medicine, a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an elected councilor of the American Association of Physicians.

In 2012, Dr. Carethers was elected to the independent nonprofit Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He received the Wayne State University School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015, and in 2016, he was awarded Mastership in the American College of Physicians (ACP), the national organization of internists.