Medical Student Electives
Two courses for medical students provide experience and participation in the Intensive Care and Transitional Nurseries.
Second Year Selective
PEDS-224C. DEVELOPMENTAL CARE OF SICK NEWBORNS-IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK. This selective will introduce the student to the more "general pediatric" aspect of neonatology, namely developmental care, as well as promote the importance of teamwork in caring for premature and sick babies. Students will gain an appreciation of the importance of early intervention, both in the hospital and after discharge for high-risk infants. They will participate in the activities of the developmental team in the intensive care and transitional care nurseries and learn the important role played by psychologists, therapists and social workers in caring for these infants and their families. They will attend developmental rounds, Special Infant Care Clinic and shadow members of the Developmental Team.
Fourth Year Electives
PEDS-426C. NEONATOLOGY. Students have patient care responsibilities and experiences in the Duke North Intensive Care Nursery. The course involves direct participation in patient care under the supervision of the faculty and housestaff. Emphasis is placed on the initiation of parent-child relationships and a pathophysiologic approach to assessment and management of the critically ill neonate. This is a sole-enrollment course and, as such, cannot be taken in conjunction with any other course.
For more information, read about Medical Student Education.
Fellowship Program
The Division of Neonatology, in affiliation with the Jean & George Brumley, Jr., Neonatal-Perinatal Research Institute (NPRI), offers fellowship training for pediatricians who wish to practice neonatology at the highest level. Our goal is to train the next generation of investigators and clinicians to improve the lives of sick newborns.
The program focuses its research efforts on the basic and clinical investigation of brain and lung injury and repair, including stem cell biology, developmental biology of the heart, brain and lungs, neonatal follow-up, health care policy, informatic biomedical engineering, and medical economics. The fellowship program strongly emphasizes individual goals and provides strong training in both the basic and clinical sciences as well as other important areas of study. The clinical curriculum takes place at Duke University Medical Center and Duke affiliated hospitals which encompass approximately 4000 deliveries per year. Duke faculty are affiliated with Duke University Medical Center and Durham Regional Hospital, which include approximately 80 level III and IV neonatal intensive care beds and have a combined admission rate of over 1000 patients per year.
Individualized research training begins during the first year and may be conducted in one of the three research tracks: Physician Scientist, Clinical Scientist, and Clinical Scholar/Educator. Training can be continued as a junior faculty member in order to properly prepare fellows for successful careers as independent investigators.