Curriculum & Didactics
Learn more about our curriculum and rotations for fellows in our maternal fetal medicine fellowship program.
Curriculum
The majority of training will take place on the Kansas City campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
In accordance with ABOG guidelines, fellows must rotate through the following areas:
Clinical MFM: 18 months
- Clinical MFM electives comprise core MFM rotations, including inpatient, outpatient, ultrasound, and genetic/genomics rotations.
- These rotations are performed at the main hospital campus.
Research: 12 months
- Begun during the first year, dedicated research time allows ample opportunity to design and complete the required thesis project by the end of the fellow's third year
- Opportunities for both basic science and clinical research are available, and fellows are encouraged to have multiple projects
- Fellows have the opportunity to work closely with two laboratories:
- Dr. Michael Soares is devoted to placental development. Find more information at Soares Lab Research.
- Dr. Soument Paul is devoted to early mammalian development and placentation. Find more information at Paul Lab Research.
- Fellows are expected to submit to and present annually at SMFM and other appropriate conferences. Funding is available for conferences to which fellow researchers have been accepted.
- Fellows have full funding and access to the KUMC Department of Biostatistics (to assist with project design), the department's own statistician, REDCAP, and the HERON Query and Analysis Tool (for easy searches of the institution's electronic medical record database).
Labor & Delivery: 2 months
- Fellows serve as the Labor & Delivery attending. These two months are broken down into four, two-week blocks, spread throughout the three years.
Subspecialty: 2 months
- The fellows rotate through NICU, anesthesia, and pathology, in two-week blocks. These rotations are all located at the main hospital campus.
ICU: 1 month
- Fellows have the option to complete a 4-week rotation in either the medical intensive care unit, surgical intensive care unit, or cardiac intensive care unit. These rotations are all located at the main hospital campus.
Electives: 6 months
- Options for electives include multiple specialties such as pediatric cardiology, maternal cardiology, endocrinology, infectious disease, rheumatology - you name it! Fellows are encouraged to seek out the elective they feel is right for them.
- Additional research or core MFM rotations time can also be chosen as electives.
Masters of Science in Clinical Research
In addition to excellent clinical training, we are pleased to offer the opportunity to obtain a Master of Science in Clinical Research. This 33-hour degree program offers in-depth training in epidemiology, biostatistics, trial design and grant writing. Funding is currently not guaranteed due to recent financial restrictions, as a consequence of the pandemic, but our goal is to determine reasonable options for those who have a strong interest in pursuing this program. Find more information on the MS-CR program.
Didactics
Fellow didactics are held primarily on Wednesday afternoons. Fellows may be asked to mentor residents through the Morbidity and Mortality conference, or Case List conference (which prepares chief residents and first-year fellows for their written boards). Frequent didactics with subspecialists including critical care anesthesia, pathology, and pediatric cardiology are also held. The following provides a guide to the various didactics KU fellows attend.
- Monthly joint MFM/Neonatology Conference
- Monthly journal club, hosted by MFM faculty
- Monthly ultrasound conference focused on fetal anomalies, hosted by MFM faculty
- Quarterly MFM/Anesthesia conference, hosted by MFM and critical care anesthesia faculty
- Quarterly MFM/Pathology conference, hosted by MFM and pathology faculty
- Quarterly MFM/Pediatric cardiology conference, hosted by MFM and pediatric faculty, in conjunction with both MFM and pediatric sonographers
- Regular participation in our Intrauterine Procedure Simulation Lab
In addition to attending didactics, fellows are also expected to provide formal didactics to medical students, residents, and their co-fellows. Furthermore, fellows are encouraged to provide hands-on teaching for residents and hospital staff at the numerous simulation didactics held through the Zamierowski Institute for Experiential Learning.