phd msu

Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program

The Michigan State University Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship is a three-year ACGME-accredited program designed to develop excellent, well-trained neonatologists with experience in clinical neonatology, research, teaching, and administration. Clinical experience is provided at Sparrow Hospital in downtown Lansing, with an elective cardiothoracic rotation available with the University of Michigan. As they progress through their clinical rotations, fellows devote more and more of their time to researching a topic of interest. A broad range of mentors and research facilities are available at Michigan State University's East Lansing campus, only a few miles down the road from Sparrow Hospital.

Inpatient rotations are completed in the Michigan State University-Sparrow Hospital Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU). Established in 1972 as a 6-bed local unit accepting perhaps one fellow every two years, the facility has since expanded to serve the entire Mid-Michigan region with 47 beds, several faculty, and up to five fellows at a time.

Since its inception in 1984, the MSU Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship has graduated some 35 fellows. In recent years, the program has distinguished itself, with many fellows winning prestigious national, regional, and local awards, and accepting academic positions in Neonatology at high-ranking institutions.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Each Subspecialty Resident must design, conduct, analyze, and report the results of a clinical or laboratory research project. To this end, the Fellow is requires (with the assistance of the Program Director) to identify an area of research and a research preceptor no later than the end of the Fellow's sixth month with the program. We have enlisted basic scientists whose labs are open to providing Fellows with high-level training and mentoring. The mentors become part of the Fellow's Scholarly Activity and Oversight Committee, and will supervise the Fellow for the next two to three years.

In addition to their menor, the Fellow will have a faculty member acting as their preceptor. The preceptor will neet with the Fellow on a regular basis to provide ongoing evaluation of performance, help with research efforts, and provide critiques of work in progress. Research preceptors can be selected from within the Division of Neonatology or other Michigan State University academic units. The preceptor will also discuss evaluations provided by the NICU attending after each clinical rotation.

By the end of the first year, the Fellow is expected to have a complete research proposal prepared in collaboration with the Research Mentor and an IRB or Animal Care approval for the project. The Fellow must also complete the Biostatistics and Research Design course offered on a bi-anniual basis. Additionally, the Department of Epidemiology offers an Introduction to Descriptive and Analytical Epidemiology, which Fellows would do well to attend.

The Fellow is strongly encouraged to have an abstract ready by November of their second year, so that they submit their research to a National Meeting (usually PAS in May). In preparation, the Fellow should present work-in-progress at local and regional meetings (Midwest SPR, Pediatric Research Day, Lansing Research Day).

With input from their Research Mentor and the Program Director, the Fellow should be preparing manuscripts for publication by the middle of their third year.

RESEARCH MENTORS

Current research mentors include:

• Bruce Uhal, PhD and Ira Gewolb, MD—Advising Chintan Gandhi, MD (2018) and Prasanth Thiruvenkataramanai, MD (2020)
• Said Omar, MD—Advising Nageshwar Chauhan, MD (2018)
• Mark Kadrofske, MD, PhD—Advising Jenny Bellodas, MD (2019)
• Almudena Veiga-Lopez, PhD—Advising Visa Sethuraman (2020)

The Fellow will be expected to participate in several teaching experiences throughout the course of their studies.

• Pediatric Grand Rounds
• Neonatology Physiology Seminar (Formal lectures and seminars presented weekly throughout the three-year program)
• Journal Clubs
• Quality Assurance Reviews
• State-of-the-Art Talks
• Case Reviews/M&M/Protocol Reviews
• Teleconference rounds with MetroHealth Neonatology Program in Cleveland (twice weekly).
• Neonatology Research Seminars (Fellows present research updates once or twice a year)
• Neonatology M&M Conference
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine Rounds
• Introduction fo Epidemiology
• Neonatal-Perinatal Core Competency Series
• Statistics and Research Design Course

The Neonatology Fellowship program provides an elective cardiothoracic rotation through the University of Michigan. The participating Fellow will be a part of the University of Michigan cardiothoracic surgery team, participating in rounds and pre-, peri-, and post-op management of pediatric cardiosurgical patients, with a special focus on conditions presenting in the newborn period. The Fellow will also participate in the care of ECMO patients. As appropriate, the Fellow will also participate in outpatient clinics for follow-up of post-operative patients. They will also participate in imaging rounds for both prenatal and postnatal consultations.

OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

The Fellow will enhance their ability to recognize and understand:

• Diagnosis and medical management of various cardiac defects.
• Surgical management of simple and complex cardiac defects.
• Invasive and non-invasive cardio-respiratory monitoring.
• Use of pharmacologic agents in pediatric cardiology.
• The mechanics and functioning of ECMO/Bypass systems.
• Management of multi-organ failure/dysfunction.
• Counsel parents of children with cardiac issues diagnosed prenatally and postnatally.

The attending physician(s) will provide program officers with evaluations of the Fellow's performance. The Fellow will also be expected to provide feedback on the elective experience, with an eye towards improving the rotation to best meet the educational needs of the program.

OUTPATIENT ROTATION:

DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT CLINIC

Neonatal fellow acquires outpatient follow-up experience in the Developmental Assessment Clinic (DAC). This is a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic that performs developmental screening evaluations on high-risk infants discharged from the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) to ensure early identification of cognitive, motor, behavioral, or social developmental deficits.

The clinic team includes a Neonatalogist, a Child Psychologist, a Physical Therapist, and a Pediatric Nurse. The children have their hearing evaluated at the Audiology Clinic located in the same building prior to their visit to the DAC.

OBJECTIVES AND GOALS FOR OUTPATIENT CLINIC

Clinical experiences will take place predominantly at Sparrow Hospital in downtown Lansing. The Fellowship makes extensive use of the following Sparrow facilities:

SECOND YEAR

Total Number of Clinical Months: 14

Total Number of Research Months: 19

Total Number of Vacation Months: 3

The Developmental Follow-Up Program occurs each Monday (whole day); fellows do ≈12 days in clinic each year. Extra clinical electives (Pediatric Surgery, Perinatology, Genetics, etc.) can be done in the 2 nd or 3 rd year.