Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program

Program Contact
Christian Castillo, MD
Program Director
(312) 864-4024
Irma Rodriguez
Program Coordinator
(312) 864-4166

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About

General Information:

Cook County Health’s Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Training Program started in 1968 and is one of the oldest in the country.  We are fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).  The goal of the program is to train fellows to become competent, well-grounded neonatologists in clinical care and research.

The Program is committed in caring for the health needs of underserved populations of Cook County.  We provide specialized care to babies with a wide spectrum of diseases in the NICU and our families come from different racial, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds.  We are also a diverse team, which includes neonatologists, fellows, residents, neonatal nurses, nurse practitioner, physician assistants, hospitalist, and other ancillary staff members.  Our Institution offers candidates with H1B and J1 visa sponsorships.

Our comprehensive curriculum provides the fellows with a strong clinical foundation.  The fellows participate in a wide variety of clinical, basic science and epidemiology research.  The clinical service, including neonatal transports, teaching rounds and weekly conferences, is joined with weekly multidisciplinary high-risk clinics for a unique opportunity to learn and provide long-term follow-up care to NICU graduates at risk for neurodevelopmental disability.  The curriculum is designed to ensure protected time for scholarly activities.

Our comprehensive training program strives to:

  • Ensure an appropriate environment for the well-being and care of the patients
  • Provide NPM trainees adequate training in the diagnosis, critical analysis of clinical problems, and management of neonates and young infants
  • Provide NPM trainees with opportunities for the progressive acquisition of skills in investigative efforts
  • Prepare NPM trainees to create and sustain a therapeutic relationship with patients
  • Help trainees to become:
    • A teacher and supervisor
    • Involved with scholarly activities
    • Develop a commitment to lifelong learning and self-instruction on the part of the NPM trainees
    • Enable NPM trainees to develop expertise as consultants in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
    • Provide progressive clinical, technical, and consultative experiences that will enable the NPM trainees to work effectively as members or leaders of patient care teams or other groups in which they participate as researcher, educator, health advocate, or manager.

 

Application

The NPM Fellowship Program participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).  The Program accepts and reviews applications in July and interviews selected applicants from August to November.  The NPM Fellowship Program supports H1B and J1 visas.

Prerequisite training/selection criteria: 

  • Satisfactory completion of an ACGME-accredited pediatric residency
  • Residents from an approved Doctor of Osteopathy Pediatric program (US only)
  • USMLE/COMLEX transcript of scores
  • Medical school transcript of grades
  • At least three letters of recommendations are required
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Personal statement
  • Residents with suitable training from non-US programs may be considered

 

Clinical Schedule

  • 1 month of clinical orientation
  • 5 months in direct patient care and supervision of residents and medical students
  • 5 months in research orientation and
  • 1 month of vacation

 

Curriculum

Learning Opportunities:

  • Morning Reports 3 times per week
  • Weekly Grand Rounds on neonatal topics
  • Weekly Combined (Stroger Hospital/Rush Hospital) Pediatric Grand Rounds
  • Weekly Journal Clubs presented by attendings and fellows
  • Monthly Mortality & Morbidity Conferences
  • Monthly Simulation Sessions for residents
  • Research Conferences
  • Physiology Lectures
  • Neonatology Board Reviews
  • Quality Improvement Projects

Research Experience:

Teaching and research are major focuses throughout the three-year program.   Each fellow must select a choice of research area, either clinical and/or laboratory in nature.   Special interests in the Division include epidemiology, perinatal risk factors and neonatal outcomes, clinical profile of necrotizing enterocolitis, patent ductus arteriosus, neonatal infection, calcium phosphate metabolism, vitamin D requirements, cord clamping and clinical surveys.  The Scholarship Oversight Committee aids in research design, protocol submission, IRB and data analysis, as well as manuscript submission for publication.  Fellows have protected time throughout their fellowship to participate in various research experiences.

Current Fellows

Third Year Fellows:

  • Aashika Janwadkar, MD – St. Barnabas Hospital, Bronx, New York
  • Ugoeze Otome, MD – John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois

 

Second Year Fellows:

  • Hibah Qutishat, MD – Jordan University Hospital, Amman Jordan

 

First Year Fellows:

  • Fadhil Al-Janabi, MD - University of Baghdad College of Medicine, Baghdad, Iraq
  • Satish Koirala, MD - Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Chandra Paneru, MD - B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal

Benefits

H1B and J1 visa sponsorship
Paid time off
4 weeks vacation, 12 sick days, 12 holidays, 7 conference days, 3 bereavement days
Education Allowance
Yearly educational allowance of $1500
Housestaff Association Union
Insurance
Malpractice, health, disability, dental, vision, life insurance
Paid Leave
Maternity/paternity/family medical leave
Meal allowance
Meal allowance of $211.54 per pay period
Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program
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