Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship

The overarching goal of the post-doctoral fellowship program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Yale is to equip trainees with the clinical and research skills to become independent and productive academic and clinical neonatologists. Yale University has a prestigious neonatal-perinatal medicine training program with a long and distinguished history. This program was established by Dr. Joseph Warshaw in 1973, was led by Dr. Ian Gross from 1982-2013 and is now directed by Dr. Christie Bruno.

Former fellows of our program have gone on to hold academic positions in medical schools and hospitals across the country and several have become independent NIH-funded investigators. Our program is highly competitive and ranks among the top training programs in US for placing fellows in academic positions. The training environment and program are highly developed, exposing trainees to the full spectrum of neonatal diseases while maintaining the strong tradition of providing outstanding opportunities for research training.

Our program enrolls 2-3 fellows/year. Fellows enter the program after completing three years of residency in pediatrics. The program is designed for postdoctoral fellows to experience a continuum of learning in both clinical neonatology and research over three years. Throughout the training, fellows are exposed to a variety of neonates and infants with routine and complex medical, surgical and cardiac issues, including those requiring Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). Similarly, the complexity of contemporary research, both clinical and basic science, requires the progressive acquisition of research skills and protected time to become experts in research technologies. The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program allows for an outstanding clinical experience during all three years as well as an early introduction to laboratory and clinical research in the first year of the program.

The goal of research training is to provide fellows with the necessary knowledge and experience to begin an academic career. Fellows are mentored in their initial selection of their mentors and projects by the program director, as well as Dr. Jeffrey Gruen, Director of Neonatal Fellow Research, and Dr. Sarah Taylor, Director of Clinical Research for the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. We offer a number of personalized research/scholarly opportunities, including:

• Clinical Research Track: The Clinical Research Track emphasizes training in clinical research and epidemiology. In addition to planning and conducting clinical studies, fellows complete coursework in statistics, design of clinical trials, epidemiology, and others as necessary.
• Basic Research Track: In this track, trainees can choose to work with investigators from across the university, allowing fora broad spectrum of research opportunities. Within the division, there is a particular focus on developmental and molecular biology, providing interested fellows with excellent exposure and experience in these areas.
• Biomedical Ethics Trac k: Fellows may choose to focus their academic work specifically in the field of medical ethics. This involves coursework on the Yale main campus in philosophy and related fields, directed reading with a member of the senior faculty with expertise in this area, participation in clinical ethics consultations, and participation in research and writing projects in Bioethics.
• Medical Education/Simulation
• Global Health
• Quality Improvement
• Bioinformatics

A formal Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) is established to mentor and guide each fellow in the first year. The SOC is composed of at least 3 individuals i.e., the primary mentor supervising the fellow’s scholarly activity, a mentor for the fellow’s clinical and general career development, and a mentor with expertise in the particular area of scholarship that is being pursued by the fellow. There may be additional mentors who are also members of SOC. The specific goals of SOC are:

• To meet with the fellow a minimum of 2 times per year
• Complete evaluation/progress reports after each meeting to assess progress and detail accomplishments
• Review and approve the proposed research plan for first year fellows
• Evaluate the fellow's written product of scholarly activity

Fellows may take these courses in their second and third year, depending on their research interests. The courses cover biostatistics, ethical issues in research, and methodology of clinical and basic research.

• Principles of Clinical Research (IMED 625)
  • The purpose of this 2-week intensive course is to provide an overview of the objectives, research strategies and methods of patient-oriented research. Sample topics include: introduction to clinical epidemiology; principles of observational studies; principles of clinical trials; principles of meta-analysis interpretation of diagnostic tests; prognostic studies; qualitative research; causal inference; decision analysis. Sessions will include lectures and discussion.

• Practical and Ethical Issues in Clinical Investigation (IMED 630)
  • This semester-long course addresses topics which are central to the conduct of clinical investigation, including ethics of clinical investigation, scientific fraud, technology transfer, and interfacing with the pharmaceutical industry. Practical sessions include: scientific presentations and teaching, medical writing, NIH peer review process, journal peer review process, and career development: models of academia. This course provides guidelines and a framework for the clinical investigator to write, obtain funding, and conduct and present a clinical study. Format consists of a lecture followed by discussion.

• Introduction to Evidence-Based Health Care & Medicine (CDE 650a)
  • Evidence-based medicine and health care use best current evidence in addressing clinical or public health questions. This course introduces principles of evidence-based practice in formulating clinical or public health questions, systematically searching for evidence, and applying it to the question. Types of questions include examining the comparative effectiveness of clinical and public health interventions, etiology, diagnostic testing, and prognosis. Particular consideration is given to the meta-analytic methodology of synthesizing evidence in a systematic review. Also addressed is the role of evidence in informing economic analysis of health care programs and clinical practice guidelines. Using a problem-based approach, students contribute actively to the classes and small-group sessions. Students complete a systematic review in their own field of interest using Cochrane Collaboration methodology.

• Introduction to Biostatistics (IMED 645)
  • This course provides an introduction to statistical concepts and techniques commonly encountered in medical research. Previous coursework in statistics or experience with statistical packages are not a requirement. Topics to be discussed include study design, probability, comparing sample means and proportions, survival analysis, and sample size/power calculations. The computer lab will incorporate lecture content into practical application by introducing the statistical software package SPSS to describe; analyze data.

• Our institutional Graduate Medical Education and ACGME accreditation requirements specify that all applicants must be board-eligible/certified in pediatrics as determined by the American Board of Pediatrics.
• Foreign medical graduates must have a valid ECFMG certificate.
• We accept the common application available through ERAS online and participate in the National Residency Matching Program. Interviews for selected applicants are held from August through October for the positions starting in July of the next academic year.
• If there are any questions regarding the application process, we welcome inquiries by phone at (203)-688-2320.