Pediatric Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship

General Overview of the Program

The Division of Neonatology at the Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit offers a three-year Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship program that is accredited by the ACGME.

The mission of the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program is to produce compassionate and scholarly physicians who will become leaders in academic neonatal-perinatal medicine. Goals include teaching trainees the clinical skills for the diagnosis and management of disorders arising in the perinatal and neonatal periods and early infancy as well as the skills needed to perform basic science and clinical research that contributes to improvements in the heath care of neonates, to inculcate in fellow trainees the attributes of compassionate, family-centered and interdisciplinary care, to foster life-long learning and education and to passionately advocate for disadvantaged and disabled children.

This is accomplished by providing the fellows with a comprehensive teaching curriculum, exposure to a broad range of clinical experience and opportunity to learn and conduct clinical and laboratory research under the guidance of world-renowned faculty.

 

Clinical Experience

Pediatric Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship

The nine (three in each year of training) fellows receive their clinical training at a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Children's Hospital of Michigan (CHM) and another Level III NICU at Hutzel Women's Hospital, both located within the premises of the Detroit Medical Center and connected via an underground tunnel.

The NICU at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan is a single private room 39-bed NICU. It provides the highest level of neonatal care for the most critical infants.  This Regional Level IV NICU has the capability to provide surgical repair of complex congenital or acquired conditions and has a comprehensive range of pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists including pediatric anesthesiologists on site. Neonatal ECMO and repair of congenital heart disease are also offered. It is a leader in cooling therapy for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, repair of abdominal wall defects and care of infants with chronic lung disease. The Children’s Hospital of Michigan Metabolic Disease Program is the state-designated referral center for all positive newborn screens. The hospital has fellowship programs in most other subspecialties, offering an opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration among trainees. Hutzel Women's Hospital (HWH) is the integrated delivery hospital. It is also home to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Perinatology Research Branch and Center for Advanced Obstetrical Care and Research (CAOCR) — a state-of-the-art facility that utilizes advanced ultrasound and surveillance techniques. The levels II and III NICUs at HWH offers additional training for fellows, particularly for attending and coordinating deliveries.

The neonatal fellows are involved in resuscitation of high-risk infants, post-resuscitation stabilization, management of all forms of mechanical ventilation (including high frequency oscillator and jet ventilation), whole-body cooling for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, inhaled nitric oxide use and ECMO. Fellows develop the knowledge and leadership skills to become independent neonatologists through clinical patient care, multidisciplinary teamwork, teaching the residents and medical students, and leading the code team. In addition, fellows also participate in antenatal consultation and developmental follow up of high-risk infants. The fellows serve as medical controls for a specialized neonatal and pediatric transport team which performs ground, fixed wing and air transport.

Research

Pediatric Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship

Fellows have broad range of opportunities to pursue clinical, basic science and translational research under the supervision of a faculty mentor. All fellows are provided with 19 blocks (4 weeks each) of research time to pursue a hypothesis driven research project. The fellows are required to complete an in-depth scholarly activity before the end of third year. In addition, fellows are expected to engage in the departmental and divisional quality improvement initiatives. Institutional funding is available to fellows through the Ashok and Ingrid Sarnaik Endowment for Resident and Fellow Research for projects and potential travel expenses. Senior fellows are expected to present their research at a national meeting.