MFM Fellowship Curriculum and Rotations

The Labor & Delivery rotation is for fellows to learn the management of complex maternal-fetal medicine patients in the inpatient setting, including diagnosis, evaluation, pre-operative assessment, operative management, post-operative care, and management of complications. While on the Labor & Delivery rotation the fellow will act as the primary attending on the unit under the supervision of a Maternal-Fetal Medicine attending.

First and third-year fellows spend time in the maternal-fetal medicine clinic with the goal of becoming proficient in the outpatient management of high-risk pregnant women, including conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac disease, as well as other complex medical, obstetric, and fetal conditions and diseases. The fellow will learn to make treatment decisions by establishing a sound base of medical knowledge of high-risk pregnancy conditions using an evidence-based approach.

The Fetal Care Center rotation will enable MFM fellows to become proficient in obstetric ultrasound, including invasive procedures for prenatal diagnosis.  Fellows will work side-by-side with five experienced sonographers and become competent in the full breadth of prenatal ultrasound, including growth ultrasounds, fetal anatomic surveys, biophysical profiles, and Doppler velocimetry.

The goal of the perinatal genetics rotations is to provide fellows with the skills they will need to provide appropriate counseling, offer diagnostic testing, and manage genetic disorders including karyotype abnormalities, inborn errors of metabolism, and congenital anomalies. Working with two prenatal genetic counselors, the fellow will also be prepared to describe prenatal screening tests, the indications for invasive diagnostic procedures used in perinatal genetics, and to assist women in the interpretation of results.

Caring for pregnant or postpartum women in an intensive care unit will be an integral part of maternal-fetal medicine physicians career. During the ICU rotation, the fellow will develop diagnostic, therapeutic, and procedural skills necessary for understanding the role of the MFM physician for pregnant women in the intensive care setting.  The fellow will develop skills needed to participate effectively in the health team, which includes representatives of nursing, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, and nutrition.

The goal of the Obstetric Anesthesia rotation is for the fellow to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate and manage the anesthetic needs for peripartum patients. Fellows will learn pre-anesthetic assessment and planning, intrapartum and intraoperative management, the anticipation of and rational responses to complications, and post-anesthetic care appropriate to a parturient in tertiary care or community hospital.

The goal of the NICU rotation is for the fellow to become familiar with the basic medical management of any neonate. The fellow will participate in daily patient care for routine and complex neonatal care. The fellow will learn normal and abnormal newborn physiology, neonatal adaptation from fetus to neonate, immediate care of the newborn in the delivery room, and clinical evaluation of the neonate.

The goals of fetal cardiology rotation are for the fellow to learn basic techniques of the sonographic evaluation of the fetal heart, develop an understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of congenital heart disease, including embryologic development of the normal and abnormal fetal heart, develop skills in the diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease, and develop a knowledge base on contemporary prenatal and postnatal treatment and management of congenital heart disease.

The goal of the antepartum rotation is for fellows to learn the management of complex maternal-fetal medicine patients in the inpatient setting. Fellows will become competent in the management of common obstetric complications, such as preterm labor and preeclampsia, and guide the care team in developing management plans for complicated antepartum and postpartum patients. The fellow will act in the role of attending for the service with direct supervision by an MFM attending.