Neonatal/Perinatal Fellowship

We offer a 3-year Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine. The goal of our program is to provide the necessary training to develop excellent clinicians and future leaders in neonatology.

Fellows participate in a variety of learning experiences, scholarly activities, and hands-on patient care, which includes clinical time in the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. There are usually two to three fellows in the program at any given time. Because of the small nature of our program, fellows have the chance to create and foster strong relationships with mentors and faculty. Fellows are key members of the division and able to have long-lasting impacts on the unit and community. With engaged faculty and flexible scheduling, fellow education and opportunities are prioritized.

The Intensive Care Nursery is the only tertiary academic referral center for New Hampshire and south-central Vermont for high-risk obstetric and neonatal patients. There are approximately 450 admissions to the ICN each year. Fellows learn from a variety of medical and surgical patients with a vast array of routine and complex diagnoses. Fellows also gain experiences in rural perinatal care, graduate and undergraduate medical education, and cross departmental collaboration. And as long-standing active member of The Vermont Oxford Network, fellows can take part in and lead impactful quality improvement projects.

Clinical program

We provide experience in high-risk obstetrics, diagnosis and management of congenital heart disease, ultrasound, clinical pathology, and genetics.

We offer experience in the long-term medical and developmental follow-up of neonatal patients, neonatal transport, and outreach education. Fellows learn effective ICN administration, interactions with community and referring physicians, and physician-nurse-ancillary caregiver relationships.

Our fellows also participate in the many teaching activities of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. They are group discussion leaders for second-year medical students, give didactic lectures to pediatric house staff, and supervise care in the ICN.

Fellows will be assigned to the intensive care nursery every third month, on average, as well as about one weekend per month and one in-house night of call per week.

Research program

Fellows in our program have opportunities to perform research in a variety of disciplines. They can perform basic science research, clinical research (including clinical trials and epidemiologic studies),  quality improvement research, and research on patient safety. Fellows will be mentored by experienced investigators in their research projects. In basic science, fellows work in an established laboratory together with pre- and post-doctoral students. For clinical research, quality improvement  and patient safety projects, they will work with neonatology faculty as well with faculty from The Dartmouth Institute.

Curriculum

During the three years of fellowship training, fellows’ education will be based on the curriculum recommended by the American Board of Pediatrics.

This will be taught primarily through weekly conferences that will consist of physiology seminars, case discussions, journal clubs, and teaching sessions conducted by current and visiting faculty members.

In addition, fellows will be taught through pathology conferences, ethics case conferences, and Pediatric Grand Rounds.

Fellows are expected to prepare and lead regularly scheduled Neonatology Morbidity and Mortality reviews.

Fellows take part in regularly scheduled joint meetings with maternal-fetal medicine specialists.

Twice a year, fellows also participate in a day-long joint conference with fellows and faculty from the University Of Vermont School Of Medicine.

Fellows are expected to take a mandatory course in biostatistics during their fellowship, preferably in their first year.

First year fellows participate in a large regional Simulation Boot Camp geared towards preparing new fellows for fellowship. And senior fellows take part in a regional Senior Fellow Boot Camp that pushes and solidifies fellow skills.

Before graduation, fellows will present their scholarly work at the Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds in the spring of their final year.

Additionally, presenting scholarly work at regional and national conferences is encouraged and supported.