About the UT Southwestern Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship

This is the 31st anniversary year of our fellowship program for specialty training in the field of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  Our legacy is reflected by our program's graduated specialists now serving in both academic and private practice areas.  Former graduates now lead as professors, division chiefs, department chairs, and deans in a number of universities.

Our three-year fellowship is structured to provide thorough training in the basics of fetal-maternal physiology and in the care and management of a complicated pregnancy through patient contact and care, research experience, conferences, postgraduate courses, and rounds. There are specific rotations for the fellows including genetics, sonography, obstetric wards, the high-risk pregnancy unit and the intensive care unit.

Eighteen months of the 3-year fellowship will be dedicated to research and 3 months will go towards other academic endeavors (postgraduate courses, clinical rotations on other services, etc.). Each fellow must complete a research project suitable for publication and a thesis to fulfill the requirements of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This thesis must be completed before taking the oral examination in maternal-fetal medicine.  

Parkland Health & Hospital System (PHHS) provides our primary teaching facilities.  PHHS, Parkland memorial Hospital, a component of an acute care general hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and is the principal teaching affiliate of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.  Our current patient load consists of nearly 17,000 obstetric deliveries per year.  Of these, approximately 7000 are high-risk patients.

Facilities available to care for the high-risk patient include:  (1) Five high-risk obstetric clinics which meet weekly with an average patient load of 175 (2) A 30-bed chronic care antepartum unit where patients with such diverse complications as diabetes, twins, hypertension, cardiac disease, renal disease, threatened premature labor, etc., can be hospitalized for prolonged periods of time; (3) Three 32-bed units for postpartum admissions and short-term antepartum care; (4) A sonography laboratory where over 18,000 procedures are performed each year; (5) a weekly genetics clinic; and (6) six obstetric research and continuity clinics (postdates/hypertension, diabetes, infectious disease, preterm birth, twins and genetics) which meet each week. 

At the present time there are 17 maternal-fetal medicine faculty at the medical school.  All are Ob/Gyn board certified or active candidates; 14 of these are also certified in Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  Additional faculty from the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Pathology, and Radiology also participate in the teaching of the maternal-fetal medicine fellows.

The major goal of our three-year fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine is to provide clinical and basic science experience leading to the certification of the candidate by the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  This will prepare the candidate for a career in academic medicine. 

If you are interested in applying, please request application forms from the below office, complete and return them to my office.

Please note the request for three letters of recommendation.

All applications must be completed by August 1 of the year prior to starting the fellowship, which begins with each academic year in July.

Once your application is received, it will be reviewed by members of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Advisory Group.  An interview is required for full consideration of your application and interviews are granted by invitation only.  You will be notified by letter whether or not you are invited to interview.  All interviews for positions in our program must be completed by September 30 of the year prior to the start of the fellowship.

All fellowships in maternal-fetal medicine in the United States are now 3-year programs and must meet the requirements of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. 

Our program currently participates in the Specialties Matching Service for Fellowships and it is anticipated that the maternal-fetal medicine fellowships will continue with the matching program.  Applications will be available from the NRMP (202/828-0676) in early June and rank lists are due in early October. 

Texas Medical License:  Application for a Texas medical license should be instituted immediately after a fellow is accepted into the program.  The licensing process in Texas is cumbersome and time consuming.  If not begun well in advance, obtaining a license prior to the beginning of the program will be difficult.  The Texas Medical Board (TMB) accepts applications on line.  Their web site is http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/.  For more information, please see Getting Your Texas Medical License.

Personal Time Off:   Personal time off must be approved by the program director and coverage by other clinical fellows must be obtained.  For department guidelines, please see the Personal Time Off section of Fellowships in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Compensation and Benefits:  Please see the Compensation and Benefits section of Fellowships in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Clinical Service Opportunities Outside Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Off-service fellows have the option of taking in-house night call on the Ob/Gyn service at University Hospital - St. Paul.  This clinical service is not associated with the fellowship training program.  A permanent Texas Medical License is required to participate.  See also the Compensation and Benefits section of Fellowships in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Further questions or inquiries may be directed to the below office. 

Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Office:

Jeanne S. Sheffield, M.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program
Jeanne.Sheffield@UTSouthwestern.edu

Marsha Zint, Education Coordinator
Assistant to Dr. Sheffield

5323 Harry Hines Blvd
Dallas TX 75390-9032
Telephone: 214-648-3113
Marsha.Zint@UTSouthwestern.edu