Training Overview
Over the course of the three-year Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship, fellows will gradually take on increasing levels of autonomy and leadership in clinical settings, including a dedicated “pretending” rotation at the NICU at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC) during the final year of fellowship.
Graduating fellows will be proficient in general medical neonatal care, pediatric subspecialty neonatal care, surgical neonatal care, cardiac neonatal care, delivery room management and neonatal resuscitation, perinatal counselling, and all neonatal procedures. They will have gained significant experience with ECMO, renal replacement therapies (including CVVHD, Carpe Diem), POCUS, neonatal transport medicine, and neonatal follow up care.
All fellows will participate in a quality improvement (QI) project during the course of their fellowship and will be well supported in this endeavor. Trainees will have the opportunity to participate at both the local and regional/national levels in QI efforts.
The majority of rotations will include in-house calls, with the exception of two to three protected research months during second and third year of fellowship and during vacation time.
Clinical Rotations and Training Sites
Clinical rotations at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles NICCU expose the trainee to high-acuity quaternary neonatal ICU care. During their three years of training, the fellows will spend a minimum of 6 months there. This level IV NICU experience is paired with up to 6 months of time spent at the HPMC NICU at our delivery hospital, HPMC, located next door to CHLA. There, the fellow will gain expertise in neonatal resuscitation, particularly for infants of high-risk pregnancies related to fetal conditions (i.e. fetus with congenital anomalies, extremely low birth weight babies (ELBW), s/p fetal surgery, hydrops fetalis), and “bread and butter” community based neonatal care. At both sites, the fellows will participate in the education of pediatric residents and have ample opportunity to gain proficiency in neonatal procedures. To add to the inpatient experience, fellows will rotate at the Los Angeles General Medical Center NICU for 2 months and the MFM clinic at Los Angeles General Medical Center. There the fellows will gain experience working collaboratively with MFM colleagues in management of high-risk pregnancies due to a variety of maternal and fetal conditions and participate in deliveries and NICU care for the neonates from these pregnancies.
Multidisciplinary Rounds and Collaborative Training
While on clinical service, fellows will participate in a variety of multidisciplinary, patient management-oriented rounds, including Surgical Nutrition Rounds, CT Surgery Rounds, ECMO rounds, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) rounds, and Discharge Rounds.
Outpatient and Transport Medicine Experience
In addition to inpatient rotations, fellows will participate in longitudinal outpatient experiences in the follow-up of high-risk neonates in both the Newborn Follow-Up Program and the BPD Clinic. Fellows will train with the CHLA Transport Medicine team and participate in neonatal land and optional air transport. To round out the clinical experience in the perinatal arena, fellows will attend and conduct antenatal counselling for patients at the Fetal Maternal Institute and at the MFM clinic at LAGMC.
Details for rotations and training sites: