Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship

The Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University is a comprehensive program designed to provide didactic training, research experience and extensive clinical activity within a busy division acknowledged regionally, nationally and internationally in these areas. 

Our fellows are trained to become future leaders in the field, advancing clinical standards through research and providing outstanding, patient-centered care based on the latest scientific evidence.

What to Expect

The three years of MFM Fellowship training consists of:

• 23 months of clinical blocks, alternating supervision of inpatient obstetrics services with outpatient and ultrasound clinical rotations
• 12 months of protected time for research
• 1 month for an elective rotation

The Jefferson MFM Fellowship consists of three main components:

Our fellows have extensive clinical exposure in all areas of perinatal medicine through structured training rotations in inpatient and outpatient settings. As a tertiary referral site, our fellows are exposed to large patient volumes with diverse pathology. We emphasize hands-on procedure training, including obstetric ultrasound and Doppler, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, percutaneous umbilical cord sampling and transfusion (PUBS), fetal procedures, cesarean hysterectomy and cerclage placement.

Moonlighting is permitted with the approval of the Program Director based on the ACGME Clinical Work and Education Hours requirements. 

Rotation Schedule and More

The 12 months of research are a tremendously important time of the fellowship. They are divided into three months in the first year, three months in the second year and six months in the third year. Fellows are encouraged to pursue specific research areas of interest to them. Each research area has at least one mentor from the MFM faculty who will be responsible for the evaluation and planning of the research and guided education activities of the fellow under their supervision.

Year One: begin to develop a project

• Explore research opportunities
• Identify track (“niche”) and mentor(s)
• Start thesis project

Year Two: prepare submission of abstract presentation to a national meeting

• Obtain funding
• Conduct recruitment
• Submit SMFM abstracts

Year Three: complete paper for submission to a peer-review journal

• Complete recruitment
• Write thesis
• Complete abstracts and manuscripts

As part of our commitment to research, we offer robust resources to support our fellows’ research endeavors, including: 

• Research mentorship
• Scott Memorial Library support for systematic review and meta-analysis
• REDCap database platform
• Bio-statistical software
• Pregnancy-related databases, including cervical length screening, preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, preterm birth
• Ultrasound database
• National delivery databases
• National inpatient sample database
• MFM Fellow Research Grant awarded annually to one or more fellows

Our Research Program

Didactic conferences are provided in varying formats, including formal lecture series covering specific areas from the division and other departments, clinical conferences, journal review sessions and research meetings. 

Conference Summary

• MFM Division Meeting: weekly on Thursdays, 8:15 AM.-12 PM

• Departmental Grand Rounds: weekly on Thursdays, 7-8 AM

• OB Care Coordination (OBCC) Meeting: Bi-monthly

• Neonatal/MFM Conference: Bi-monthly

• SMFM Fellow Lectures: Bi-monthly

• MFM Journal Club: weekly
• Retreats: topics include ultrasound, genetics, leadership and research

In addition to their own training, fellows are actively involved in medical student and resident education. Fellows’ teaching opportunities include giving lectures, directing simulation training and hands-on training through clinical care.

The program structure is supported by mentorship, feedback and evaluation.  These components allow fellows to make individualized progress through the curriculum.  

Mentorship

Within the first six months of fellowship, first-year fellows should identify one or, preferably, more mentors who are responsible for the guidance and evaluation of the fellow under their supervision. 

Protected Time

To maintain a balanced curriculum, fellows have protected time for research and conferences. Over the course of the three-year program, fellows have 12 months of protected time to pursue research. Fellows also have protected time during the weekly MFM Division meeting every Thursday from 8: 15 AM to 12 PM. 

Fellow Evaluations

Fellows are evaluated quarterly by all faculty members. Evaluations are completed quartely as fellows rotate with multiple faculty members during each month and allows for a comprehensive performace review over a 3 month span. Fellows receive informal feeback from faculty during each rotation (typically on a weekly basis). Every six months, a summative evaluation is completed by the Program Director. The summative evaluation is completed using formal and informal faculty feedback, and feedback from the Clinical Compentecy Committee.  Throughout the year, there are many informal meetings between the fellows and program leadership – our doors are always open. 

Fellows’ research activities are evaluated each year starting with a project proposal, followed by a formal progress update and culminating with a completed thesis. The MFM faculty votes on the fellows’ theses for two awards: Fellowship Research Award and the Leon Peris Research Award for best genetic perinatal research.  

MFM Fellows are engaged in clinical rotations at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) sites and Christiana Care Health System (CCHS), an affiliate site in Delaware. Christiana Hospital is located in Newark, Delaware, a 45-minute drive from TJUH. Fellows spend the majority of their time at TJUH, including inpatient, outpatient and most ultrasound rotations, gaining hands-on experience with a patient population of diverse backgrounds and medical conditions. To complement the academic setting of TJUH, CCHS provides fellows with clinical experience in a high-volume, private practice setting with a focus on obstetric ultrasound.