Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Highlights

The Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital is the first ACGME approved community-based fellowship program in the United States. The three-year program is currently approved for two fellows per year and is funded in partnership between Orlando Health and Pediatrix Medical Group of Florida. 

The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship program strives to develop Fellows as clinicians, teachers and researchers capable of transforming the future of neonatal care. We accomplish this by providing fellows with broad educational, clinical and research experiences. The program intentionally maintains a very strong focus on clinical care, while still providing opportunities for pursuing a master’s degree and research and QI projects in a tertiary care setting to meet the ACGME requirement for scholarly activity.

Our teaching hospital, Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, is a 350-bed hospital delivering approximately 14,000 babies per year, providing an extensive experience for our fellows in the stabilization and resuscitation of the newborn.

The extensive array of services provided at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital results in the referral of the highest risk and most complicated pregnancies. These patients are cared for by our Maternal Fetal Medicine Physicians in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team to ensure the best outcome for mom and baby. The team provides state of the art care including fetal surgery. WPH is the first-and-only-facility in the Southeast United States to perform in utero surgery to repair spina bifida. Fellows will round with the Maternal Fetal Medicine team during their first and second years.

Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital is home to our 142 Bed Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, one of the largest and most technologically advanced NICUs in the nation. The NICU has received a number of Awards and Recognitions:

• Named, a “Best Children’s Hospital” in neonatology by U.S. News & World Report.
• ECMO Center of Excellence, one of only four in Florida.
• NICU recognized with consecutive Beacon Awards for excellence in bedside care by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
• Achieved Magnet designation – the gold standard for nursing excellence – from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
• First hospital in Orlando to earn Perinatal Care Certification from the oldest and longest accrediting bodies in healthcare, The Joint Commission.
• The NICU at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital has several special programs striving to the achieve the best outcome possible for our patients. Fellows will rotate with each of these teams learning from our experienced and diverse faculty. The high volume and exceptional patient diversity in the NICU result in an extensive clinical exposure during the three-year fellowship. This in combination with our dedicated and supportive faculty, form the basis of our fellowship training program and its collegial educational environment.

Program Highlights:

• Congenital Heart Disease Program located at our sister hospital, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. The two hospitals are physically connected by a bridge, allowing for ease of access for the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellows rotating in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit learning to care for this patient population, both pre and post operatively during their first and second years.
• Interventional Cardiology Program offering catheter occlusion of PDAs among other procedures.
• ECMO program established in 1989, the first in the State of Florida to provide this life-saving care. During their clinical rotations Neonatal-Perinatal Fellows will participate in the management and care of these patients.
• Tiny Baby Collaborative program, which is achieving some of the best possible outcomes in the United States for infants at the limits of viability. Fellows will work with this team in caring for and managing these patients.
• The NICU uses multiple forms of ventilation including NAVA, High Frequency Jet and High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation. Fellows will have the opportunity to master these forms of ventilation during their three-year fellowship under the guidance and expertise of the clinical faculty.
• Complex Care Multidisciplinary Team cares for some of the most challenging infants in the NICU. These infants are often technology dependent and frequently require prolonged hospitalizations.
• Point of Care Ultrasound Program is a recent addition to the NICU and the Fellowship Program. Fellows will be trained in the application and use of this technology.
• Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Multidisciplinary Team manages these patients pre and post operatively.
• Multidisciplinary Pulmonary Hypertension Team.
• The NICU has extensive subspecialty support including all Surgical and Medical Specialties, including Genetics and Palliative Care.