Program Objectives

Overall Program Objectives

Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Objectives

Objectives of 1st Year Fellow

Medical Expert:

  • Understand the provision of neonatal intensive care in a family centered environment
  • Learn the outcome of pregnancies of varying gestational ages
  • Understand antepartum and intrapartum fetal assessment
  • Understand common problems of pregnancy and how they impact on the fetus and newborn
  • Gain experience in the management of infants with chronic medical problems who require prolonged hospitalization and in the support of their families
  • Gain proficiency in neonatal consultation for high risk infants in the NICU
  • Develop expertise in the interpretation of special investigations routinely used in the NICU
  • Obtain special competence in clinical skills and direction of management of the critically ill newborn, including all appropriate technical skills and techniques of resuscitation

Communicator:

  • Develop skills in counseling and supporting families of newborn infants in the NICU
  • Communicate effectively with families

Collaborator:

  • Understand the differing abilities of other members of the team, including residents, nurses, respiratory therapists and medical students
  • Communicate and work effectively in a multidisciplinary environment to provide optimum care for the mother, fetus and neonate
  • Recognize the importance of functioning in a multidisciplinary team

Manager:

  • Understand the system of regionalized perinatal healthcare
  • Understand resource issues related to provision of perinatal care
  • Become cognizant of the scope of practice of the healthcare team
  • Understand how clinical practice guidelines have developed and to gain experience in how they can be altered by processes that include evidence-based practice, education and consensus

Health Advocate:

  • Acquire knowledge of available community resources to facilitate discharge of the complex infant

Scholar:

  • Learn how to research a clinical problem – use of library, Medline, Cochrane Library, etc.
  • Critically appraise and synthesize medical literature in order to provide evidence based care
  • To supervise and teach members of the health care team, including residents, nurses and respiratory therapists
  • Take an active role in the education of undergraduate and postgraduate medical house staff
  • Develop initiative and curiosity in dealing with clinical problems

Professional:

  • Develop awareness of ethical issues related to the care of the mother, fetus and newborn
  • Sensitive to a cultural/ethnic issues related to perinatal care
  • Take an active role in the education of undergraduate and postgraduate medical house staff
  • Communicate effectively with families
  • Obtain special competence in clinical skills and direction of management of the critically ill newborn, including all appropriate technical skills and techniques of resuscitation
  • Become cognizant of the scope of practice of the healthcare team

Objectives of 2nd Year Fellow

Medical Expert/Clinical Decision Maker:

  • Consolidate knowledge acquired in Year 1

Manager:

  • Develop leadership skills in clinical care and education
  • Develop leadership skills whilst maintaining sensitivity in coordinating and maximizing the expertise of the interdisciplinary health care team in the day-to­day care of NICU patients and their families whilst maintaining individualized developmentally sensitive care

Communicator:

  • Consolidate skills in counseling and supporting families
  • Communicate effectively with families, healthcare team and other community resources

Collaborator:

  • Understand the differing abilities of other members of the team, including residents, nurses, respiratory therapists and medical students
  • Communicate and work effectively in a multidisciplinary environment to provide optimum care for the mother, fetus and neonate
  • Recognize the importance of functioning in a multidisciplinary team

Scholar:

  • Demonstrate a commitment to the practice of evidence based medicine
  • Gain insight into their own career goals
  • Understand and demonstrate the skills necessary for independent life-long learning
  • Acquire a basic understanding of aspects of carrying out a research study, including hypothesis generation, protocol development and statistical analysis of data.
  • Understanding of preparation of an abstract and manuscript on conclusion of the study
  • Gain insight into the skills of grant writing through exposure to the grant writing process where possible
    Learn how to prepare a report for presentation either in poster or oral format

Health Advocate:

  • Giving feedback or advices to the referring community Pediatricians with emphasis on health advocacy issues.
  • Making a Complex discharge care plan for babies with multiple morbidities, follow up plans in the community, addressing social issues and ways to manage, addressing issues might evolve at school going age, early intervention of developmental problems, etc.
  • Outreach education to the community Pediatricians, Advocating for breast feeding and kangaroo care in

Professional:

  • Learn to manage ethical, cultural / ethnic issues related to perinatal care
  • Conflicts resolution
  • Active role in teaching junior team members.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada has information on Neonatal Perinatal Medicine subspecialty training.  You can find information about examination dates, FITERs, Standards of Accreditation, Specialty Training Requirements, Objectives of Training, and examination formats on their website.