Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program

The Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program consists of the following components as outlined by the Program Requirements for Education developed by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and ACGME Resident Review Committee (RRC) for Neonatal‐Perinatal Medicine.

Fellows are assigned to these components in an educationally appropriate sequence over the usual 36 months of training. Overview of the Neonatal‐Perinatal Medicine Fellowship The NPM fellowship program, accredited by the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Pediatrics, which includes the American Board of Pediatrics, is jointly sponsored by the University of Minnesota (UMN) and Children’s MN— St. Paul (CHCM‐SP). The University NICU is located on the West Bank Campus in the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital (UMMCH), and has ~750 annual admissions. CHCM‐SP has ~925 annual admissions. Twenty‐four neonatologists direct patient care and provide education at both institutions. Residents from the University of Minnesota Pediatric and Medicine-Pediatric Residency Program receive training in neonatology at both sites.

These hospitals serve a wide referral area geographically, with patients from all socioeconomic groups. The University NICU has a busy Level IV service providing all aspects of neonatal intensive care. The NICU and Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) service at UMMCH receives patient referrals from throughout Minnesota, as well as North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin. The MFM service covers all types of referrals and has a large fetal echocardiography program in conjunction with the UMN pediatric cardiologists. The NICU serves as a referral source for other NICUs in the area, receiving patients with cardiac and surgical problems from the four‐state area. The NICU is also a national ECMO Center of Excellence, serving as a regional ECMO referral center, supporting 6‐10 ECMO patients per year. Additionally, the University service is involved in many collaborative clinical research projects with a dozen active clinical protocols enrolling at present. Approximately 25-30% of the annual admissions are transported either by ground ambulance or via fixed‐wing/helicopter air ambulance transport service. If interested, the neonatal‐perinatal medicine fellows may participate in the transport service.

Learn more about the University of Minnesota staff neonatologists

The NICU at Children’s MN–St. Paul serves the eastern metropolitan area and hospitals located in St. Paul, eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Approximately 20 percent of the admissions are transported from these hospitals. The remaining 80 percent are born at United Hospital, located adjacent to CHCM‐SP, an active perinatal referral center for Minnesota and western Wisconsin. This NICU is a referral source for infants requiring non‐conventional ventilation and for infants requiring diagnostic evaluations of apnea.

Learn more about the staff Children's MN-St. Paul neonatologists

This page provides access to information on stipends and benefits for medical residents & fellows.

Additionally, each medical fellow receives:

• Funding of the ABP General Pediatrics Certifying Exam
• At least $1,500 for professional development
• At least $300 annually in education funds
• MN medical license, or MN residency permit if ineligible for a MN license
• AAP membership with subspecialty section membership

We appreciate your interest in the University of Minnesota's Neonatal Fellowship Program and look forward to reviewing your application. The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program at the University of Minnesota participates in the National Resident Match Program and will accept applications only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). We generally match for 3 candidates each year. Please feel free to contact the program if you have any questions that are not answered here on the webpage.

Please Note:

• Applicants must have completed an ACGME accredited residency program by the fellowship start date.
• 3 letters of recommendation are required, preferably to include one from a neonatologist and one from the residency program director.

The University of Minnesota demonstrates a commitment to leveraging the transformative power of equity and diversity to advance excellence in teaching, learning and community engagement. Applications from individuals who self-identify as members of underrepresented groups are particularly welcome.

Bendel & Nuñez Fund for Neonatal-Perinatal Fellow Education & Career Development

This fund enriches the efforts of the University of Minnesota Medical School's Department of Pediatrics' Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship program by establishing an education, research, and well-being funds for the benefit of the fellowship fund.

Benjamin Walker Hanson Neonatology Fund

Ben's Buddies is a nonprofit, all-volunteer group who raise money for the Benjamin Walker Hanson Neonatology Fund, part of the University of Minnesota Foundation. Our mission is to empower and support families and friends who have suffered the loss of a child while raising funds for newborn research & education.

The clinical curriculum is based on providing PL‐4 fellows (1st year) with a high degree of direct patient contact and responsibility on the NICU, and providing PL‐4/5/6 fellows graded supervisory responsibility for the PL‐1/2/3 residents, medical students and their patients. The first year consists of predominately clinical activities and the second two years are primarily for scholarly activity, combined with ongoing clinical work.

The fellowship requires 12‐15 months of clinical rotations consisting of a minimum of 12 months assigned to the NICU critical service, one month on cardiology, one senior month on the UMMCH intermediate care service and additional elective time as desired. Five to six months of the first year are spent rotating between the two NICUs as a clinical fellow (functioning as a junior staff person in the supervision of the hour‐to‐ hour care of critically ill newborn infants), along with the cardiology rotation. Fellows generally have the remaining six to seven months of critical clinical experience spread out during the second and third years. During the third year of clinical service, the fellow is expected to function fully as a junior attending neonatologist and will have the additional month on the UMMCH intermediate care service. Formal training in NRP, transport of the critically ill newborn infant and ECMO will be provided. Participation in the NICU Follow‐up Clinic is required during all three years of the fellowship. Participation in the Vermont Oxford Network is required for 6 months during the second year, with additional participation available on an elective basis. Elective clinical rotations include Maternal‐Fetal Medicine, other Pediatric Subspecialties, and International rotations.

The Maternal‐Fetal Medicine rotation is a month‐long elective that many fellows take during the first year. Rotating with the UMMCH maternal‐fetal medicine physicians provides exposure to and an appreciation of the prenatal diagnostic tests available, as well as the management of high‐risk pregnancies and preterm labor. Fellows attend high‐risk clinics and are involved in prenatal counseling of high‐risk patients. They may also work with our prenatal palliative care and hospice team.

The majority of the Neonatal‐Perinatal Medicine Fellowship consists of 18‐20 months of scholarly activity. As per the ABP, “all fellows will be expected to engage in projects in which they develop hypotheses or in projects of substantive scholarly exploration and analysis that require critical thinking. Areas in which scholarly activity may be pursued include, but are not limited to: basic, clinical or translational biomedicine; health services; quality improvement; bioethics; education; and public policy.” Traditional clinical/basic research or other scholarly activities, within neonatology, perinatology and developmental biology are facilitated by the mentors in neonatology or other related subspecialties. Neonatologists and subspecialists in other pediatric divisions supervise these studies and are instrumental in guiding the development of individual projects with appropriate specific curriculum (e.g., laboratory meetings, journal clubs, course work).

Once an area of interest is identified, fellows will work with the program director, in addition to their specific mentor and scholarship oversight committee, to develop an individualized learning plan (ILP) for scholarly activity. The goals and objectives will then be individualized to address the specific area of scholarly investigation.

The University of Minnesota and Children’s MN–St. Paul have been involved in many national collaborative trials including studies on surfactant, inhaled nitric oxide, fluconazole and the STOP‐ROP consortium. The primary venue for collaborative work has been through participation in the Center for Neurobehavioral Development. Dr. Michael Georgieff is the director of this unique multidisciplinary resource for training and research across disciplines.

Additional collaborative research is ongoing between division members and members across the Department of Pediatrics as well as the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology; the Institute of Child Development; the Department of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience; the Center for Immunology; and the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology. Several fellows have been supported on the Infectious Disease Training Grant and one completed a combined neonatal‐infectious disease fellowship. Opportunities to work with researchers in other areas at the University of Minnesota are also available. Experts@Minnesota provides a way to search for experts in your specific area of interest.

Fellows also have the opportunity to participate in graduate‐level coursework offered by the university, as well as to obtain a Master's of Clinical Research, Master's of Public Health, Master's in Health Informatics or Master's in Bioethics. Fellows have also obtained on-line certificate training in Quality Improvement and Pediatric Bioethics. The program is open to discussing options with each fellow for additional training. Participation and tuition payment cannot be guaranteed in advance and preapproval must be obtained from the program director.