The first year of fellowship will consist of one orientation month and four service months. These months will be divided between the resident team (three months) and the delivery team (one month). While on the resident team, the fellow is responsible for supervising resident physicians and our neonatal physician assistant (PA) residents as well as providing teaching on rounds. Research projects may occur within the division of neonatology or with another department at the University of Kentucky. Both basic science and clinical research opportunities are available. The maternal fetal medicine rotation occurs within the first year and is designed to give fellows exposure to prenatal care for high risk pregnancies and an understanding of prenatal ultrasounds. Fellows complete a transport rotation each year which is designed to give fellows experience with pre-hospital care of infants transferred to Kentucky Children's Hospital from surrounding areas.  

During the second year of training, fellows gain increasing autonomy and experience. Service time during the second year also consists of four service months, albeit with a slightly different distribution, as fellows begin to cover the advanced practice provider (APP) team. This team is comprised of neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal nurse practitioner students, physician assistants who have completed a neonatal residency program, and physician assistant residents. Service months in the second year include the APP team (two months), resident team (one month), and delivery team (one month). Having spent the first year of fellowship developing a research project, second year fellows will begin to conduct research on their projects. This involves presenting their proposed project to the faculty, fellows and APPs as well as submitting the research plan to the University of Kentucky's Institutional Review Board. Duties during the transport month remain the same.

The third year of fellowship is designed to be the culmination of two years of training and research. Fellows complete their service months with the APP team (three months) and delivery team (one month), acting as junior attending. Fellows are responsible for conducting team rounds with the APPs and reviewing their assessments and plans with the attending neonatologist separately. The remaining service months are spent on the delivery and transport teams. During this year, the fellows should also be finalizing their research and preparing a manuscript for publication. 

During the months on service, fellows take no more than one-two calls for the month. Night and weekend call is divided between the fellows on research, MFM and transport and decreases by seniority. 

Our Neonatal Graduate Clinic is under the direction of Ricki Goldstein, MD. Dr. Goldstein has over thirty years of experience in caring for critically ill neonates and following their development in the outpatient setting. The clinic is located at 1900 Richmond Road in the Easterseals Bluegrass – UK healthcare Children’s Specialties Clinic. The clinic provides developmental follow-up for infants who were extremely low birth weight, diagnosed with neonatal abstience syndrome, hypoxic ichemic encephalopathty, and those who underewent ECMO. Infants are followed in the clinic through 36 months. Fellows average approximately one-to-two days per month. 

During this month the fellow is a member of the Neonatal Transport Team and will travel to referring facilities to assist in the transfer of infants to our NICU. Our transport teams consist of specialized nurses who have been trained in neonatal and pediatric transport medicine as well as a paramedic or pilot depending on the mode of transport. Kentucky Children's Hospital operates both ground and air transport teams.

Neonatology POCUS Curriculum

Mode of Instruction: Didactics and Hands-On

Frequency: Biweekly to Monthly

Core Lectures:

Introduction to basic ultrasound physics and knobology 
Didactic/Hands-on

Lung ultrasonography in neonates 
Didactic/Hands-on

Basics of neonatal echocardiography 
Didactic/Hands-on

Using POCUS to identify central line (UAC, UVC and PICC) position 
Didactic/Hands-on

Abdomen/FAST scan in neonates 
Didactic/Hands-on

Introduction to cranial ultrasounds in neonates 
Didactic/Hands-on

Using simulation to teach POCUS 
Didactic 

Targeted neonatal echocardiography 
Didactic 

CRASH protocol in unstable neonates 
Didactic 

Credentialing and quality assurance in neonatal POCUS 
Didactic

Using lung US scores to guide clinical management in the NICU 
Didactic/Hand-on

Identification of endotracheal tubes and diaphragm assessment using POCUS 
Didactic /Hands-on

Procedural Workshops 

• Echocardiography 
• US-guided paracentesis 
• US-guided thoracentesis 
• US-guided vascular access 
• US-guided lumbar puncture 
• US-guided pericardiocentesis 

Hands-on 

UKHC Simulation Center

SonoSim Simulator

Faculty

Rupin Sharma, MD (NICU)
Prasad Bhandary, MD (NICU)
Sanjay Dhar, MD (Critical Care)
Terren Trott, MD (Critical Care/EM)
Preeti Ramachandran, MD (Pediatric Cardiology)