Rotation Schedule

Clinical Blocks:  Each fellow has 15 clinical rotations in 4-week blocks.

Year 1

1 rotation in Term Nursery
3 rotations in NICU at Parkland NICU
1 rotation in High-Risk Obstetrics
1 rotation in Labor and Delivery
1 rotation in NICU at Children's NICU

Year 2

2-3 rotations in NICU at Parkland
1-2 rotations in Children's NICU

Year 3

1 rotation in NICU at Parkland NICU
1 rotation in NICU at Children's NICU

Year 2 or 3

1 rotation in LBW Follow-up
1 rotation in NICU at Children's CVICU

Rotation in Labor and Delivery Room:  Myra Wyckoff, M.D., an internationally acclaimed physician in neonatal resuscitation research, directs a very unique resuscitation rotation, which includes exposure to a computerized patient simulator, NRP certification and training, participation in resuscitation research, review of the literature, attendance at high-risk deliveries, and transfer to and admission of high-risk infants to the NICU.

Other Blocks:

• Vacation: Each fellow has 3 weeks of vacation per year
• Protected Time: Each fellow has 20 months of protected time for scholarship activities (research, board preparation) and elective rotations. The amount of time increases from the first to the third year, and is clustered to enhance productivity. 
• Elective Rotations:
  • Follow-up rotation: additional exposure to the Low Birth Weight Clinic
  • Anesthesiology rotation: one week exposure to airway and vascular access procedures in the operating room at Children's Medical Center
  • Purple Team rotation: NICU rotation at Parkland Memorial Hospital with intensive exposure to neonatal procedures
  • Transport rotation: 4 weeks of exposure to neonatal and infant transport
  • CCN (step-down unit) rotation: 1 week exposure to the step down unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital, including preparing the neonate for discharge from the NICU and communicating with the family, the follow-up team and primary care provider

On-calls and duty hours:

The training program is fully compliant with the ACGME duty hour regulations.

At the very beginning of the fellowship each fellow has 4 "buddy calls," during which he/she is shadowed by a senior fellow: 3 buddy calls at Parkland Memorial Hospital, preceding "solo" calls at the Parkland NICU, and one buddy call at Children's Medical Center (CMC) NICU, preceding "solo" calls at the CMC NICU. Each fellow has 2 buddy overnight calls during the cardiovacular intensive care unit rotation.

In order to optimize research activities, calls are clustered during clinical blocks (7 calls per block or every fourth night) and less frequent (4 calls per block in the first year, 3 calls per block during the second and third years) during research blocks.

Each fellow has on one call-free research block every year, and one additional block with only one call (on year one) for preparing for the American Board of Pediatrics examination.

Each fellow has a total of 153 calls (including "buddy calls") during the training program, with an average of 4.4 calls per month, or one call every 6.9 nights.

The number of calls decreases with the number of years of training: 5 calls per month (1 call every 6.1 nights) during the first year, 4.4 calls per month (1 call every 6.9 nights) during the second year, and 3.8 calls per month (1 call every 8.1 nights) during the third year.

The number of on-calls and the number of clinical rotations do not depend on the number of fellows in the program at any time.

Specific Educational Goals of the Rotations

Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine Course

Coursework & Conferences

2009-2010 Monthly Conference Schedule

Required Coursework

• Fellows' Physiology Course
  (Thur 07:45-09:00, first and third Thursdays of each month)   Curriculum
  Presentations by fellows and faculty covering all aspects of development, physiology and pathology relative to the fetus and neonate.  The curriculum is designed to be completed over a 3 year period.  Directed by Dr. Charles Rosenfeld
• Biomedical Statistics
  Formal course in introductory conceptual statistics, taken during the second and/or third year. Directed by faculty in Department of Clinical Sciences.
• Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine     
  (Thur 07:45-09:00, 2nd and/or 4th Thursday of each month)  Curriculum
  Designed to facilitate understanding of experimental design, statistics, conduct of clinical trials, and evaluation of pertinent medical literature. This course runs parallel with the Physiology Course and addresses therapeutic alternatives specifically related to the pathologic problem under discussion.  Directed by Dr. Myra Wyckoff.

Teaching Conferences

• Morbidity-Mortality Conference (Parkland Hospital)
  (Thur 12:00-13:00, second and fourth Thursdays of each month)  Curriculum
  Neonatology fellows and faculty, faculty in Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Surgery, and Pathology present and discuss cases from the preceding months.  Supervised by Dr. Lina Chalak. 
• Morbidity-Mortality Conference (Children Medical Center)
  (Tu 12:00-13:00, once monthly)    Curriculum
  Neonatology fellows and faculty, faculty in Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Surgery, and Pathology present and discuss cases from the preceding months.  Supervised by Dr. Lina Chalak. 
• Division Research Conference
  (Fri 07:45-08:45)
  Neonatology faculty and fellows and other UT faculty present completed research and work in progress three weeks of each month.  Once a month, a Journal Club is held in which the Division faculty present recent literature regarding clinical or basic research relevant to the neonate. Quarterly, a neonatology critically appraised topic (NEOCAT) is presented by a fellow in collaboration with a Division faculty.
• Core Curriculum Course for Postdoctoral Fellows, Department of Pediatrics
  (Thur 17:00-18:00)   Curriculum
  Faculty present lectures and discussions regarding need for continuing education, career choices, animal and human experimentation, experimental design, writing grants, use of molecular and cellular biology in research. Attended by Pediatric fellows from all Divisions.
• High Risk Obstetrics
  (Mon 08:00-09:15)
  Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellows present and discuss cases on the High-Risk Pregnancy ward.  Attended by faculty, fellows and housestaff in Obstetrics and Pediatrics.
• Resuscitation Conference    
  (Mon 12:00-13:00, every other Monday)  Curriculum
  Delivery room and NICU resuscitations from the preceding weeks are critiqued and discussed.  Attended by fellows, housestaff, nurse practitioners and nurses from Labor and Delivery and the NICU. Directed by Dr. Myra Wyckoff.
• Prenatal Diagnosis
  (Fri 12:00-13:00)
  Obstetrical Staff present 2-4 cases with prenatally diagnosed abnormalities for discussion of planned delivery and care.  Discussion of methods for prenatal diagnosis. Directed by Dr. Jodi Dash, Department of OB/Gyn.
• Multi-disciplinary Fetal Monthly Conference
  (We 12:00-13:00, monthly)   Curriculum
  This is a multidisciplinary presentation and discussion of patients with antenatally detected anomalies, predominantly focused on cardiac anomalies.
• Life after Fellowship
  (Quarterly luncheon 12:00-13:00)  Curriculum
  Presentations by various neonatologists with different types of careers, discussions and assessment of various practice venues, job search, interviews, negotiation skills, academic tracks, billing, medicolegal issues, and benefits

Fellows' Physiology Course

Fellows build an Individual Development Plan and a portfolio, which are reviewed twice a year at the semi-annual meeting with the program director.