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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 ranks among the best in the nation in the annual U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospitals" survey, and is New York's No. 1 children's hospital, according to the New York Daily News based on an analysis of the US News & World Report's rankings. NYP ranks #9 in the nation in neonatology.
Our Leve IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has 60 beds and 650-700 admissions yearly. In addition, a continuing care nursery is used for treatment of larger premature infants and non-distressed full-term babies requiring antibiotics or phototherapy. The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine features an active delivery service with 5500 deliveries each year.
Weill Cornell Medical Center NICU staff offer a full range of consultative services including:
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.
Our patient population includes a diverse mix of infants from every area of the New York metropolitan region and beyond. We care for:
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.
We concentrate clinical time in the first and second years to provide third-year fellows with time to focus on research.
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.
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.
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. |
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 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
Our neonatal neurologic program, developed by Dr. Jeffrey Perlman, Chief of Newborn Medicine, 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.
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.
Applications are received through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).
