Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Curriculum

Curriculum

Under the supervision of one of the largest MFM divisions in the country, each fellow will experience clinical training at our county facility, Ben Taub Hospital and at the Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women.

Unique clinical features of our fellowship include programs in fetal imaging, fetal surgery, placenta percreta, as well as a dedicated maternal ICU at the PFW.

These multidisciplinary services create comprehensive training experiences in fetal imaging (ultrasound, MRI, echocardiography), critical care obstetrics and operative obstetrics. Clinical and basic science research opportunities abound with ongoing projects in medical complications of pregnancy, fetal imaging, genetics, and fetal intervention.

Additionally, the department operates several large databases including PeriBank, a fully integrated database and specimen repository (maternal, paternal, cord blood, and placenta) derived from thousands of deliveries per year.

Each Fellow is given the opportunity to pursue additional training through the Baylor College of Medicine Clinical Scientist Training Program.

MFM/Critical Care Track

Fellows who wish to pursue a 3.5 year combined MFM/Critical Care Medicine track must declare their intent to do so within the first six months of fellowship. One fellow per year may apply. Acceptance to this track requires a separate application to surgical critical care. Elective time will be used to fulfill the 12 months of critical care training.

MFM/Medical Genetics & Genomics

Fellows interested in completing a joint Maternal Fetal Medicine / Medical Genetics and Genomics Fellowship must apply for and interview for a joint fellowship. Learn more information about this program.

Clinical elective rotations may include fetal echocardiography, tropical medicine or additional labor and delivery, ultrasound, genetics, antepartum or research rotations based on the individual fellow’s interests and strengths.

Responsibilities

Through the course of the clinical fellowship, with experience, fellows will assume a progressively independent role in the management of patients. This will include the supervision of residents and medical students in the development of management plans for the patients on labor and delivery under the supervision of MFM Faculty.

The fellows will have a weekly half-day continuity clinic at the Ben Taub during their first year and rotate through sub-specialty clinics during the second and third years of fellowship. At the Pavilion for Women inpatient (antepartum) and outpatient services (ultrasound), the fellows will be given increasing responsibility to develop the plan of care and generate consultation reports and communicate with referring physicians.

Didactic Curriculum

During training, the fellows will have the opportunity to attend the SMFM First Year Fellows’ Retreat and the SMFM Annual Meeting. Attendance at major annual meetings (SGI, AIUM, ACOG, CREOG/APGO, etc.) will be encouraged and supported based upon the fellows’ clinical and research interests.

Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellows will provide at least one didactic lecture annually on topics related to obstetrics in the OB/Gyn resident lecture series. Fellows will also be expected to present at least one Grand Rounds lecture to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in the final year of training.

Fellows will attend weekly MFM lectures, monthly Journal Clubs and Research Conferences throughout their three-year training period.

**Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Didactic Curriculum**
**Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. - noon**
7:30 - 8:30 a.m.	8:30 - 9 a.m.	9 - 10 a.m.	10 - 11 a.m.	11 a.m. - noon
Fetal Care Conference	Fellowship Updates	Research Review Sessions	Lecture/Case Review/Journal Club	Lecture/Case Review/Journal Club

Additional Sessions:

First Tuesday of the month: Ultrasound Unknowns
Second Thursday of the month: Fetal Echo Cases

Fellowship Research

Research space allocated to the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine is integrated within the main research facilities of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, facilitating optimal administration and resource sharing.

Fellows will be trained as researchers via the combination of the Clinical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine, and the extensive, well-funded research opportunities with clinical and basic scientists in obstetrics and gynecology and other departments, such as Genetics. The CSTP is supported by a K-30 NIH grant and is designed for junior faculty and subspecialty fellows. This structured program in combination with the availability of research mentors who have a proven record of collaboration with clinicians at Baylor will allow fellows to reach the goal of becoming physician-scientists. All fellows will be required to attend the CSTP course at the beginning of their first year of fellowship to prepare them to develop research projects.

Each fellow will have 18 months of protected research time during the training program. The program director will facilitate the identification of a research mentor for each fellow within the first four months of the first year of training. The research mentor will be responsible for guiding the fellow in the development of a research hypothesis and timeline.

Learn more about the Obstetrics and Gynecology research department.

Rotations

All fellows will be required to complete a two month inpatient labor and delivery rotation and two months of MFM Antepartum/High-Risk Clinics at Ben Taub Hospital. In addition, fellows will complete four months of inpatient Antepartum/Critical Care Unit (ACCU) at the PFW and a one-month rotation in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Ben Taub. Outpatient clinical rotations will include six months of ultrasound and one month of prenatal genetics at PFW.

Fellows will participate in in-house call which is included in their 80-work week allotment. Fellows will take no more than three weeknight in-house calls and one 24-hour weekend in-house call averaged over four weeks at BTH as a generalist attending (with MFM and Gynecology attending backup). Additionally, fellows will take one weekend of MFM call from home with an MFM faculty.

First-Year