The Division of Neonatology at Albany Medical Center offers a fully accredited, three-year neonatology fellowship, with a new fellow position each year. The program provides a well-balanced education in the competencies of clinical neonatology and clinical or basic science research. The clinical service is not fellow-dependent for its function, allowing fellows substantial scheduling flexibility to meet their individual educational needs.
First Year
The first year focuses on acquisition of clinical expertise, selection of a faculty mentor, familiarization with ongoing clinical research projects, identification of a research mentor and selection of a Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC). Clinical outcomes research and multiple quality improvement projects are possible with a customized NICU database, as well as through participation in New York State’s Regional Perinatal Data System and the Vermont-Oxford Network.
Second & Third Years
The second and third years include substantial time for research. Clinical and basic science research opportunities are provided through the neonatology faculty and other basic science and clinical faculty. There is particular depth in bioethics, clinical outcomes research, and quality improvement. Alternative tracks are possible through the master’s program at Albany Medical College's Alden March Bioethics Institute (with free tuition for fellows) and the Master of Public Health program at the University at Albany School of Public Health.
Facilities & Affiliations
Albany Medical Center
Albany Medical Center, northeastern New York’s only academic medical center, incorporates a 766-bed hospital that offers the widest range of medical and surgical services in the region. Albany Medical Center and Albany Medical College are members of the Albany Med Health System, which also includes Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital, and Saratoga Hospital. The region’s largest locally governed health system, the system has 1,520 beds, more than 800 physicians, and 125 outpatient locations.
The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital
The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center is northeastern New York’s only children’s hospital. It provides care in pediatric medical and surgical subspecialties, including a Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Program. The Department of Pediatrics has over 40 faculty members. The NICU admits more than 800 neonates each year, about one-third outborn.
Neonatal/Perinatal Services
Albany Medical Center is the region's only New York State designated Level IV Regional Perinatal Care Center and state designated Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We are the regional referral center for high-risk obstetrical patients and critically ill neonates for an area with 30,000 births per year. There are approximately 2,500 inborn infants annually, nearly 30 percent from high-risk pregnancies. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s high-risk Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program accepts over 600 maternal transports while Neonatology provides ground and air transport services for about 300 neonates each year. Neonatology staff and fellows provide inpatient and outpatient prenatal consultation to high-risk families, some in the setting of a multidisciplinary Fetal Care Clinic.
The NICU operates with a philosophy of family-centered care and includes families in team rounds. Technological capabilities include high-frequency jet ventilation, nitric oxide therapy, therapeutic hypothermia, amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), point-of-care ultrasonography, and tele-monitoring.
There are 15 neonatology faculty members in the Department of Pediatrics. All are actively involved in patient care and teaching with diverse clinical and research interests. A team approach to patient care includes family-centered rounds and incorporates the expertise of highly skilled NICU nurses (including neonatal nurse practitioners and physician assistants), patient care coordinators and social workers, residents, and the neonatal fellow and attendings, supported by respiratory therapists and nutritionists. Emphasis is also placed on the education of house officers from Pediatrics, Medicine-Pediatrics, and Maternal-Fetal Medicine training programs.
The neonatology service provides delivery room coverage for perinatal and neonatal problems, including prenatal consults, and consultation plus urgent care in the normal newborn nursery, which is managed by General Pediatrics and area pediatricians.
The Massry Family Children’s Emergency Center
The Massry Family Children’s Emergency Center at Albany Medical Center provides an environment where neonates, children, and teenagers up to age 18 are treated by experts in pediatric emergency medicine.