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Fellowship Overview
This three-year program, which is administered by the
Division of Neonatology, is designed to prepare pediatricians for careers
in clinical and academic neonatal medicine and research.
The fellowship program consists of clinical experiences and formalized instruction,
including weekly research conferences, perinatal physiology conference,
clinical case conferences and perinatology conferences with faculty from
the Division Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Our Fellows are expected to participate actively, very early in their training,
in some of the ongoing research programs and are encouraged to develop individual
research projects of their own design. For individuals interested in continuing
their research beyond three years, there will be an opportunity to remain
at Children's Hospital of New York one or two additional years
as junior faculty.
Clinical
Activities
The clinical experience during the three-year training program
at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center is intense and extensive. The first
year is comprised of six months clinical experience, five months of research
and one month's vacation. Clinical service is divided between two separate
rotations. The first rotation is the management of the entire 33-bed NICU
and the second is the management of the delivery service, transitional nursery,
transport service and consultation service. During the first year, fellows
learn the bulk of their clinical skills. By participating in daily work
rounds and the didactic lecture series for the residents, the fellows acquire
experience in teaching and lecturing.
The second and third years are much like the first, but with only four and
two months of clinical service, respectively. The fellow, in conjunction
with the attending physician, is the primary director of clinical care.
Although many major therapeutic decisions are discussed with the attending,
the fellows operate with substantial independence. Fellows acquire an enormous
amount of clinical experience because of their in-house call and the extremely
high-risk population. We are an ECMO center which yields a continuous flow
of gravely ill infants. The fellows are fully competent to manage infants,
using the newest forms of mechanical ventilation, surfactant therapy, percuntaneous
central lines, etc. Our cardiac, neurologic and surgical services are very
active and provide a full range of clinical challenges. We are extremely
confident that the three years of clinical work at Babies & Children's
Hospital will prepare our fellows for virtually all possible practice contingencies.
Philosophy
of Research Training
When fellows come to Columbia with specific research questions
or interests, every effort is made to assist the fellow in reaching his/her
goals. This situation is, in fact, rather unusual. More commonly, trainees
are uncommitted and prefer to examine the options at the institution before
making their choice of a research objective. We believe there is a sufficiently
wide range of choices at Columbia to insure first-rate research experience
for all serious candidates.
Fellows frequently choose to do research with faculty members outside of
our division. The most frequently chosen areas include obstetrics, pharmacology,
development psychobiology, neurology, computer science, hematology and pulmonology.
We encourage fellows to follow their interests and we have generally been
able to find faculty advisors and other resources to assist the fellow in
whatever area is appealing to them. Advice regarding experimental design
and statistical analysis is available from many sources within the institution.
Research Activities
The American Board of Pediatrics has issued criteria for
certification in neonatal/perinatal medicine. Of major concern to the Board
is that potential diplomates demonstrate competence in clinical or basic
science research. For a listing of ongoing research projects within the
division please see the research section.
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