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Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship

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The Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program at Children's National Health System/ George Washington University is a 3 year program designed to provide training in neonatal-perinatal medicine for candidates who have successfully completed their pediatric residency training. Clinical training is provided in two state-of-the-art NICUs, one located at Children's National and the other at the George Washington University Hospital.

The NICU at Children's National is a 54-bed quaternary level unit with more than 700 admissions per year. The program provides extensive training in management of respiratory distress, with conventional and high frequency oscillatory ventilation, nitric oxide, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) capabilities. Infants with a multitude of medical and/or surgical problems are transferred from over 30 hospitals in the region. The neonatology team works with faculty members representing all medical and surgical subspecialties to co-manage infants with specialty needs.

The George Washington University NICU is affiliated with the High Risk Perinatal Program at GWU. Rotations through this unit provide experience in management of the high-risk neonate in the delivery room and post delivery. Prenatal consultative experience is achieved through a multidisciplinary team approach with members of the Perinatology Team. Holy Cross Hospital, a private community facility affiliated with the pediatric and neonatal training programs at Children's National provides a perinatal one month rotation for the second and third year Fellows. This unit has over 8000 deliveries and a very active perinatal service, providing additional experience in a community base setting. The Neonatal Divisions at Children’s National and GWUH presently have eight full-time, board certified neonatologists and six neonatal-perinatal fellows.

Neonatal Fellows are assigned a faculty advisor during their first year. This advisor provides direction and support during the three years of training. The fellow's research project can be developed in several areas. The neonatal attending staff members are involved in research ranging from translational research, physiology research, cell biology research, and epidemiology research. Fellows also have access to the Children's Research Institute (CRI) and the faculty working in the CRI. Research grants for fellows are awarded twice a year through the CRI. On-going research in the department includes animal studies investigating various types of ventilation, including nitric oxide, liquid ventilation, and ECMO. Cerebral physiologic studies are ongoing, evaluating the effect of ECMO on the developing brain and altered vascular reactivity. Other members of the department doing research at the cell level are conducting their work off site at NIH. There are opportunities for fellows to develop projects under these attendings at the NIH laboratories.

The fellowship program offers opportunities to the academically oriented, as well as the clinically oriented candidate. However, the clinically oriented fellow will participate in research according to the guidelines for the Neonatal Perinatal Boards.

Prior to starting the fellowship, candidates must have completed a 3-year pediatric residency training, be board certified/eligible in pediatrics and be eligible for a D.C. license to practice medicine.

Research Education How to Apply Faculty and Staff Frequently Asked Questions
Research

Research

Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Fellows are involve in either basic science, transitional, clinical, follow-up or quality improvement research activities. Each Fellow is a principal investigator (PI) on his or her research project.

First year fellows discuss their general area of interest in research to the program director and seek advice in whom to interview among the faculty members and learn about their potential mutual interest in that area. After choosing an appropriate research mentor, they meet regularly with their research mentors and present their research concepts and hypothesis to their research mentor and to the Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) by the second half of their first year of fellowship. Subsequently during the 2nd and 3rd year they meet with the SOC twice a year for the Scholarship Oversight Committee to oversee and assess the progress of each fellow and verify and endorse their accomplishment to the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) that the Scholarly Activity requirement has been met. Our SOC schedule is as follows:

First Year Fellow
First Meeting - March to May

Second Year Fellow
Second Meeting - September to November
Third Meeting - March to May

Third Year Fellow
Fourth Meeting - September to November
Fifth Meeting - March to May

In addition, the SOC may meet on ad-hoc basis whenever there is an unresolved issue and/or concern about the fellow’s progress or resource needs, or to review important findings, or at important events (i.e. fellow’s research presentation within the institution).

Education

Education

Conference Site # Frequency R/O Role of the Fellow
Fellow Seminars 1 or 2 Weekly R Organizes, Attends, Presents and participate in discussions
Fellow Board Review Lectures 1 Weekly R Organizes, Attends, Presents and participate in discussions
Neonatology Research Seminar/Journal Club/Case Presentations 1 or 2 Weekly R Organizes, Attends, Presents cases and participates in discussions
Radiology Work Rounds 1 Daily R Attends, Participate in discussions
Pediatric Grand Rounds 1 Weekly O Attends, Participate in discussions
Professorial Rounds 1 Weekly O Attends, Participate in discussions
Ethics Rounds 1 Monthly O Attends, Participate in discussions
Cardiology Conference 1 Weekly O Attends, Participate in discussions
M & M Conference 1 Monthly R Attends, presents cases and participate in discussions
Combined Neonatology / Surgery Grand Rounds 1 Quarterly R Attends, Presents cases and participate in discussions
Risk Management Seminars 1 Quarterly O Attends, participate in discussions
High-risk Perinatal Conference 2 & 3 Weekly O Attends, presents, and participate in discussions
Obstetrical Grand Rounds 2 Monthly O Attends, Participate in discussions
Curriculum Lectures 1 Bi-Monthly R Attends, Participate in discussions
ASAP Hospital-wide Conferences 1 Weekly O Attends, Participate in discussions
How to Apply

How to Apply

The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program is part of the National Residency Matching Program and accepts fellowship applications via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Qualified applicants are notified and invited for a one-day visit to our facilities and an interview.

All candidates are interviewed by the Director and at least one other member of the attending staff at Children's National Health System and 1 member from GWUH.

Contact Information

K. Rais-Bahrami, MD
Fellowship Director
Phone: 202-476-5448
Email: kraisbah@childrensnational.org

Sylvia McGuire
Division of Neonatology Administrative Assistant
Phone: 202-476-5448
Email: smcguire@childrensnational.org

Address:
Children's National Health System
111 Michigan Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20010
Phone: 202-476-5448
Fax: 202-476-3459

Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff

Billie Lou Short, M.D. - Division Chief
Gretchen G Brandon, NNP
Taeun Chang, M.D.
Johanna (Penny) Glass, Ph.D.
Jeffrey A Lapinski, NNP
An N Massaro, M.D.
Diane L Morrison, NP, CPNP-PC
Khodayar Rais-Bahrami, M.D.
Mary E Revenis, M.D.
Joseph Scafidi, D.O.
Brian S Stone, M.D.
Tammy N Tsuchida, M.D.
Johannes N Van Den Anker, M.D.
Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are the benefits?

  • Health, Dental, Vision
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Life Insurance
  • Annual & Sick Leave
  • Disability Insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Backup Child and Elder Care

A detailed summary of all benefits can be found in our Benefits Guide.

Mila's Story

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As soon as Mila was born at 35.5 gestational weeks, it was clear something was terribly wrong. Mila’s breathing didn’t sound right. Her mother waited to hear her newborn cry. Following diagnostic imaging and genetic testing, her newborn daughter's health concerns were revealed. 

Read More of Mila's Story

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