About The Fellowship
The Division of Newborn Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) offers a three-year neonatal-perinatal fellowship approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Our multidisciplinary team approach allows us to provide the highest level of care for newborns and their families. We work closely with experienced nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as a dedicated neonatal nutritionist, pediatric pharmacist, developmental psychologist, mother-baby psychiatrist and music therapist. Respiratory, occupational and speech therapists round out our team
WCM neonatology fellows are involved with the entire spectrum of neonatal care, including prenatal consultation, delivery room resuscitation, intensive care management, convalescent care, discharge and follow-up. Our large follow-up program hosts clinics twice weekly to follow premature infants as well as infants who received selective head cooling. Fellows participate in these clinics throughout their three years.
Our fellowship provides the best clinical program and research experience available in preparation for a successful career in academic neonatology, through structured clinical and educational curricula and a research curriculum tailored to the interest of each fellow.
As a designated New York State Department of Health regional perinatal center, the Division of Newborn Medicine has been recognized as a leader in the field of neonatology. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is also ranked in all ten pediatric specialties on the 2017-18 U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospitals" survey - more than any other New York metropolitan area hospital.
Facilities & Services
Our Leve IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has 50 beds and 650-700 admissions yearly. In addition, a seven-bed continuing care nursery is used for treatment of larger premature infants and non-distressed full-term babies requiring antibiotics or phototherapy. The WCM Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology features an active delivery service with 5500 deliveries each year.
Weill Cornell Medical Center NICU staff offer a full range of consultative services including:
- cardiology
- pediatric cardiothoracic surgery
- neurology
- neurosurgery
- infectious diseases
- endocrinology
- genetics
- hematology
- radiology
- ophthalmology
- dermatology
- pediatric surgery
- pediatric otolaryngology
- pediatric urology
- pediatric orthopedic surgery, and
- plastic surgery
NICU staff are responsible for transport of infants from referring hospitals to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Neonatal fellows accompany a transport team when an infant is acutely ill, and are responsible for management on the transport.
Patient Population
Our patient population includes a diverse mix of infants from every area of the New York metropolitan region and beyond. We care for:
- premature infants as early as 23 weeks of gestation
- infants with hypoxic ischemic brain injury
- infants born with congenital anomalies including complex cardiac disease
- intestinal and airway anomalies
- infants requiring surgical and medical subspecialty support
Patients in the NICU are split evenly between two teams. The first team consists of an attending, fellow and neonatal nurse practitioners. The second team consists of an attending, fellow and pediatric residents. A pediatric pharmacist, neonatal nutritionist and social worker attend rounds with the teams.
Curriculum
We concentrate clinical time in the first and second years to provide third-year fellows with time to focus on research.
First Year
- NICU - seven months
- Cross Cover - one month
- Research - three months
- Vacation - one month
Second Year
- NICU - four months
- CICU - one month
- Research - six months
- Vacation - one month
Third Year
- NICU - two months (including one month as a "pre-attending")
- Research - eight months
- Elective - one month
Night Calls
Fellows take in-house night calls throughout the year on a divided rotation and also take transport calls from home. On average, night calls are taken one out of every eight nights in-house, and transport calls are taken three nights per month.
Clinics
All fellows are assigned to one of two high-risk follow-up clinics, and are expected to attend on a weekly basis when not on service in the NICU or post-call.
Daily Conferences
Our educational curriculum is a structured program including lectures, seminars, invited speakers, journal clubs and visiting professors. Over the course of three years, a thorough review of neonatal physiology is completed. Fellows actively participate in our educational series.
Day | Meeting | Time |
Monday | Physiology Conference: thorough review of newborn physiology, with different topics covered each month Research Conference: presentation of fellows' and attendings' ongoing or proposed research. Journal Club: review of neonatal care literature, with an emphasis on critical reading | 3:30-4:30 p.m. |
Tuesday | Resuscitation Review (every other week) | 8-8:30 a.m. |
Pediatric Grand Rounds | 8:30-9:30 a.m. | |
Antenatal High-Risk Conference (every other week) | 1-1:30 p.m. | |
Wednesday | OB/NICU Teaching Rounds | 8-8:30 a.m. |
Clinical Pathologic Conference: presentation of selected cases of interest, followed by anatomic, clinical or pathologic discussion of findings with a pathologist. Clinical Case Conference - Morbidity and Mortality: monthly review of activity on the unit, along with a discussion of the more interesting cases and any mortalities that occurred Multidisciplinary Meeting: monthly meeting with all clinical and ancillary disciplines involved in daily operation of the unit, with an emphasis on quality improvement as well as identifying and solving problems Neonatal Grand Rounds | 1-2 p.m. | |
Friday | Professor's Rounds | 12-1 p.m. |
Neonatal Resuscitation Program
Fellows actively participate in our newborn resuscitation program, supervised by Dr. Catherine Chang. Newborn resuscitation simulations are conducted two to four times per week. Each fellow will be involved in at least 15 simulations over their three years of training.
Simulations
Simulations are conducted two to three times per week. Each fellow will be involved in at least 15 simulations over their three years of training. Both high- and low-fidelity mannequins are used for simulation purposes
Neonatal Neurology Program
Our neonatal neurologic program, developed by Dr. Jeffrey Perlman, Chief of Newborn Medicine, and Dr. Murray Engel, Medical Director of Pediatric Clinical Neurology, trains neonatal and pediatric neurology fellows in the area of neonatal neurology.
Fellows attend weekly, multidisciplinary, clinical neuroradiology rounds and research meetings each Thursday, achieving competency in the area of newborn neurologic examination as well as the review of neuroimaging and EEG data. Weekly research meetings are also conducted and directed by Dr. Jeffrey Perlman each Wednesday.
Research
Global Health
WCM neonatal-perinatal physician Jeffrey Perlman leads a robust global health program in Tanzania and the Eastern Cape of South Africa, targeting the reduction of early neonatal mortality. Dr. Perlman introduced the Tanzanian program Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) which resulted in a 47% decrease in early neonatal mortality during its pilot implementation. The HBB program is now embedded nationally in Tanzania medical and nursing school curricula.
Recently, Dr. Perlman’s team associated maternal and neonatal antibiotics, antenatal steroids and avoidance of hypothermia with a 48% reduction in early neonatal mortality (less than seven days). An additional companion project involves identification and management of newborn infants at risk of bilirubin encephalopathy and kernicterus.
Our Faculty
Dr. Jeffrey Perlman
Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Professor of Pediatrics
Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Lauren Blatt
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Catherine Chang
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Michael Espiritu
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Ericalyn Kasdorf
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Margaret Pulju
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Gail Ross
Associate Professor of Pediatric Psychology
Dr. Matthew Smith-Raska
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Priyanka Tiwari
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Mary Vernov
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Dr. Vivien Yap
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Assistant Attending Pediatrician
Benefits
How to Apply
Applications are received through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).