The people & purpose
About Colonoscopy First.
Physician-led education for an informed screening choice.
Founder & medical reviewer
Stephen Rudolph, MD
Gastroenterologist, Minnesota
I’m a Minnesota gastroenterologist with nearly 20 years of clinical practice. I completed my gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. I founded Colonoscopy First, and I write and review what you read here.
Our purpose
Why Colonoscopy First exists.
Your screening choice should rest on a clear picture of what each option can do. Our purpose is to help you understand the differences and choose with confidence.
Finding a cancer that is already there is one ability. Finding and removing precancerous polyps before they become cancer is another. That focus on prevention is why we favor a high-quality colonoscopy as the first screening test for average-risk adults who are due and for whom it’s right. Guidelines recommend several options, and your plan should fit your health and circumstances.
Explore the prevention evidenceQuestions to bring to your clinician
Why this project began
From clinical practice to patient education.
Colonoscopy First grew out of my own practice. My colleagues and I were diagnosing colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous growths in younger adults, and I saw that people choosing a screening test often didn’t know how differently the options find precancer, or that only one can remove it.
As stool-test advertising grew, I felt colonoscopy’s role in prevention deserved a clearer explanation. This site extends my work in cancer prevention beyond the exam room.
Our approach
How the information is reviewed.
I review published research for what was measured, who was studied and where uncertainty remains, and turn it into plain language. Published findings are kept separate from Colonoscopy First’s interpretations, with sources, limitations and study funding included so you can check the evidence yourself. Industry funding is weighed, not used to dismiss a study automatically.
I am responsible for the site’s medical review. Colleagues have provided informal feedback, but the project does not currently have a separate, independent medical review panel.
Corrections & collaboration: share a correction, relevant research, or a proposal for collaboration.
Disclosures
Funding & professional interests.
I pay for Colonoscopy First myself. There is no outside funding or sponsorship.
I am an owner and shareholder in a gastroenterology practice and its endoscopy centers, and I earn income from clinical care, including colonoscopy. I have no relevant industry consulting, speaking, or research relationships.
The views presented here are my own. They do not represent my medical practice or professional organizations.
Colonoscopy First is a national educational campaign. It does not offer appointment booking or endorse individual providers.