Kentucky Children's Hospital is located within UK Hospital on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky. The Children's Hospital is a hospital within a hospital, which means that we share many of UK Hospital's services and facilities. However, our Management Council makes policies and decisions which focus on the needs of children and families. Kentucky Children's Hospital is the only children's hospital in the region.

Neonatology Fellowship

Goals of the Program
The aims and structure of the UK Neonatology Fellowship program follow those advised and expected by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The program is based on the following tenets: The existence of any clinical subspecialist is to provide patient care by the application of knowledge gained through studies of the population/system of interest. The knowledge offered by subspecialists is by definition different in content or in depth to that offered by the specialist - thus the clinical need. The role of the subspecialist is a dual one: 1) he/she must maintain excellent clinical standards through clinical practice and in-depth teaching of current information and 2) must advance his/her discipline through research and the dissemination of the results.

The objective of the program is the education of neonatal fellows in clinical, research, teaching and some administrative aspects of Neonatology. The fellowship lasts three years and is a structured one with set curricula and a focus upon teaching.

The teaching staff of the Division of Neonatology are Sub-board certified in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. They are State Licensed faculty whose hospital privileges are in good standing. They are committed to scholarly activity. The fellows, faculty and program are regularly evaluated.

The patient population provides an adequate volume and variety of high-risk obstetrics and newborn disorders. There is input from many subspecialty services, including pediatric surgery and pediatric cardiology. The NICU has several types of ventilators and nitric oxide and ECMO therapies are provided. The fellows attend follow-up clinic where they learn skills in evaluation, management of the needs of the sick newborn after discharge and can develop an understanding of the impact on the family of the socioeconomic and psychological stresses involved.

The facilities at the University of Kentucky include a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Children's Hospital. All of the consulting staff, laboratory and radiological facilities of a major teaching center are at hand. There is laboratory space and equipment for research, including computer facilities for data manipulation and analysis. Statistical consultation is available. The library offers excellent service and courses in the retrieval of information by the Internet.

Clinical Teaching Programs
The aim is to implement a scholarly and critical approach with the acquisition of clinical diagnostic, technical, therapeutic and consultative abilities in the management of sick newborn and subsequently during follow-up care, resulting in an ability to make appropriate and cost-effective decisions. Fellows are supervised by faculty but expected to become independent over time. Clinical duties involve a total of 9-12 months of NICU care in the three-year time period. Follow-up clinic is attended 1/month.

Conference Schedule at UK
There is a core lecture series at the start of the academic year. A lecture series is given in statistics and every other year a teaching seminar series is offered. The basic science and clinical conferences are structured to provide three-year curricula that interdigitate and give the fellow a rounded education in neonatal-perinatal medicine.

Weekly Meetings
Tuesday Vermont-Oxford Meeting

Wednesday Fellow's Basic Science Seminar

Thursday Pediatric Grand Rounds
Clinical Perinatal Conference
ECMO / NO Conference (1/month)

Friday Rotating Neonatology Conference

1 Division Meeting

2 Journal Club

3 Perinatal Pathology Conference

4 Case Discussions (M & M)

5 Divisional Research Seminar

Research
Aim: To prepare the fellow for performing research through the development of a questioning attitude and a critical analysis of the medical literature, including new therapies.

Performance: The ACGME / AAP research requirements state that the fellow should be involved in the design, conduct, evaluation and preparation for publication of either a laboratory or clinical project.

Progress: A Research Committee is set up for each fellow.

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This information is reposted with thanks to University of Kentucky HealthCare.