Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship
The Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program at UCLA is a three-year training program that strives to attract candidates with an affinity for academic medicine. The program is structured to include clinical and research training in neonatology that fulfill the requirements of the ACGME.
Our program utilizes UCLA’s rich environment of scientific, clinical, and educational resources. The proximity of the university allows for a curriculum that not only prepares our trainees for excellence in clinical practice and scholarly research, but also sets them up for a successful career in academics.
Clinical Environments
The clinical program consists of fellows providing care in the neonatal intensive care units, on transports, during delivery room resuscitations, and in the high-risk follow-up clinic. The well-structured educational curriculum includes:
- Weekly divisional conferences which range from case discussions, research seminars, perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, and journal clubs.
- Multidisciplinary fetal care conferences, neonatal-surgical, and neonatal-pathology combined conferences.
- Weekly Chief rounds focused on clinical decision making and treatment options of currently hospitalized NICU infants.
- A departmental core curriculum competency series given weekly per the guidelines developed by the American Board of Pediatrics that enhances the education of all fellows. These board focused lectures aim to fulfill clinical content specifications related to physiological basis of disease and other evolving clinical care.
- Yearly offering: Whitney Cale regional symposium featuring state of the art management given by National and international experts.
- Multitude of talks and symposium offerings in the larger UCLA campus.
Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA
The Mattel Children's Hospital within the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center houses a 22-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that receives approximately 450 admissions per year. Fellows will also be involved with air and ground transports and collaborate with surgical and medical consultative services. In this multidisciplinary approach, there is a congenital cardiac program on-site, an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program, and a whole body cooling program in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. All pediatric sub-specialties and surgical sub-specialties are available at Mattel.
There are approximately 2,000 births per year with many high-risk deliveries. Maternal transports are an important part of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program. UCLA boasts a widely respected infertility and fetal diagnostic program and has been a leading major referral center for high risk mothers and neonates.
UCLA Santa Monica
In addition to the UCLA Mattel NICU in Westwood, the fellows also rotate through the UCLA Santa Monica NICU which is a 16-bed unit with an in-house delivery service that cares for over 1,400 births per year. The NICU at Santa Monica is part of a comprehensive program of women's and children's services available at the medical center and combines the best of academic and community neonatal care. The NICU admits about 200 infants per year, most weighing less than 2500 grams at birth. Neonatology fellows will provide consultations (as requested by pediatricians, obstetricians, and perinatologists), attend high-risk deliveries, and care for premature and critically ill newborns.
High Risk Infant Follow-Up
The High-Risk Neonatal Follow-Up (HRIF) Clinic is a multi-disciplinary program which has achieved a Center of Excellence status in the State of California. The HRIF clinic provides comprehensive medical care, neurodevelopmental follow-up, care coordination, resources and psychosocial support for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates and their families from the time of discharge until 3 years of age. Fellows will be an integral part of each visit, allowing for continuity through multiple stages of care.
Research Environment
The research curriculum is an individualized and mentor-based program that provides a scientifically rich environment where fellow trainees are afforded the opportunity to work in well-established laboratories and clinical research programs. Mentors specialize in a wide range of study that spans the field of developmental and neonatal diseases. Our Neonatal Research Center houses laboratory, translational, clinical, and outcomes-based research activities of the division and incorporates our data into the State of California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (CPQCC) and Vermont Oxford Network.
Our fellowship has received support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development institutional training grant in Neonatal and Developmental Diseases. Our fellows also have opportunities to enroll in the K-30 physician-scientist development program, UCLA STAR Program (medschool.ucla.edu/star) and CTSI (Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ctsi.ucla.edu) sponsored courses, including a Masters of Science in Clinical Research that provide the tools necessary for developing clinical trials. Every fellow has the opportunity to apply for The Janet and Ray Scherr Fellowship Loan Repayment Endowment and NIH Loan Repayment Program. The Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute provides research support, seminars, and funding opportunities.
Living in Los Angeles
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was recently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the third best hospital in the nation and best in the Western United States. UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital is one of the highest-rated children's hospitals in Southern California and is an integral component of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, which is situated on the Main UCLA School Campus.
The UCLA campus is located in Westwood, which is just a short trip away from the Pacific Ocean. Westwood is a unique college town with individuals from all walks of life. From arts to sports and everything in between, there is no shortage of things to do in Southern California. Fellows at UCLA will enjoy all that is great about the west coast and being part of a large and culturally diverse community.
