Building Yourself as A GI Expert: How do I develop true GI expertise without feeling like an imposter?

Written By Gastro ANP

How to Build True Expertise Without Feeling Like an Imposter

There’s a particular kind of doubt that shows up in gastroenterology.

It’s not the kind that comes from lack of intelligence or training.

It comes from caring deeply about complex systems, nuanced cases, and patients whose symptoms don’t follow clean algorithms.

If you’ve ever thought:

  • “Everyone else seems more confident than me”

  • “I know a lot… but not enough”

  • “At what point do I actually get to feel like an expert?”

You’re not alone.

We’ve all felt like an imposter at some time in our careers. This sensation often appears when we move from interest into commitment to an idea/approach/belief. It’s when our work matters enough that we take it personally. 

Imposter syndrome often is a sign that we are doing real work. Some people get stuck in this place where they want to feel ready before taking the next step – such as putting a focus area on their website or business card, or signing up to do a talk or a designation in a chosen field. 

However, we can wait forever for certainty, and it may never arrive. Steven Pressfield, in Turning Pro, says the professional shows up before certainty arrives. 

Expertise Isn’t a Feeling — It’s a Practice

True GI expertise doesn’t arrive as a moment of internal certainty.

It develops quietly, through repetition and responsibility.

  • Sitting with another IBS case without rushing to certainty

  • Revisiting stool test patterns after outcomes are known

  • Noticing the common threads across relapses, stressors, and physiology

Over time, something shifts—not because you “know everything,” but because you know how to think.

That is the difference between information and expertise.

Professionals do not wait for confidence. They build confidence by committing to the work

Accepting Uncertainty as Part of the Job

Gastroenterology asks a lot of clinicians.

Symptoms overlap. Labs are imperfect. Healing is not linear. The nervous system is always involved.

If you’re waiting for GI medicine to feel clean or obvious, it never will.

Professionals don’t eliminate uncertainty. They learn to remain present inside it.

That capacity—to stay curious, grounded, and responsive when answers aren’t immediate—is often what patients experience as confidence.

Not certainty. Stability.

Why Comparison Keeps You Stuck

Comparison is an trap.

In clinical spaces, comparison sounds like:

  • “Other doctors seem so sure”

  • “I don’t sound as polished as they do”

  • “I shouldn’t be here yet”

But professionalism isn’t measured against other clinicians.
It’s measured against your commitment to the work itself.

If GI keeps pulling you back—
If you continue to study it, wrestle with it, and care about it—
Then this is your work.

You don’t need to earn permission to belong.


How Imposter Syndrome Actually Resolves

Imposter syndrome doesn’t disappear because you finally feel confident.

It dissolves because:

  • You keep showing up

  • You take responsibility for real cases

  • You speak honestly about what you know and what you’re still learning

  • You let experience accumulate quietly

One day, without fanfare, you notice:

“I don’t feel like an expert… but things make more sense now. Patients trust me. And I know how to move forward.”

Remember

Your job is not to feel like an authority.
Your job is to take the digestive system seriously—every time.

Depth comes from devotion, not bravado.
Expertise grows through presence, not perfection.

If you feel like an imposter, it may not mean you don’t belong.

It may mean you’ve crossed the threshold—from dabbling to dedication.

And that’s exactly where professionals begin.

Gastro ANP