Program Director: Andrew Hull, MD
The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Training Program focuses on providing State-of-the-Art care for High Risk pregnancy and has a strong emphasis on training in basic science and clinical research.
The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program at University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine is approved for three fellows in any three-year cycle. This fellowship provides a broad base in the practice of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, incorporating both clinical and basic science elements, and is focused on preparing graduates for careers in academic medicine.
Clinical Experience
Training of fellows is centered at UCSD Medical Center, with a delivery rate of approximately 260 per month, of which 50-60% are high-risk, encompassing a wide range of complex obstetrical problems. UCSD Medical Center has an outstanding Neonatal Intensive Care Unit adjacent to the delivery unit. Additional training sites include perinatal consultation at Mercy Hospital (approximately 260 deliveries per month) and Scripps Memorial Hospital (approximately 270 deliveries a month). All of the latter hospitals have level II+ nurseries with neonatologists and our Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialists on site.
An especially strong aspect of our training program is the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, a multidisciplinary center receiving referral patients from throughout San Diego County and the Pacific Rim, sited on our academic campus in La Jolla. This center is staffed with geneticists, our own Maternal-Fetal Medicine faculty, and dedicated fetal sonographers. Affiliated with the center are specialists in the disciplines of pediatric urology, neurosurgery, nephrology, teratology, and perinatal pathology. A number of active research protocols are being pursued in the center as well as on our clinical service, including regulation of human amniotic fluid volume, prevention of gestational diabetes, use of 3-D ultrasound, prenatal diagnosis, and ultrasound markers of fetal aneuploidy. Research efforts are directed by Thomas Moore, Thomas Kelly, Dolores Pretorius, Robert Resnik, Angela Scioscia, Andrew Hull and David Schrimmer.
Research
Basic science research in our Fetal Physiology Laboratory is a major focus for those of our fellows interested in bench-or animal-based perinatal investigation. Under the leadership of Perinatal Division Faculty members or an affiliated research mentor, the faculty includes Thomas Moore, Andrew Hull, David Schrimmer, Louise Laurent, Gladys Ramos and Douglas Woelkers. We are currently actively pursuing topics related to amniotic fluid dynamics, fetal blood volume and renal physiology, endocrine factors responsible for fetal cardiovascular homeostasis, and molecular mechanisms underlying premature membrane rupture and preeclampsia.
The structure of research and clinical service activities of our fellows is flexibly determined according to the needs and desires of the individual fellow. Ordinarily, our fellows spend at least 50% of their time in protected clinical or basic science research and the remainder in diagnostic ultrasound, perinatal consultation, and intensive inpatient management of complicated pregnancy. Fellows function on our service at the Attending Physician level and thus are also responsible for an appropriate proportion of resident and medical student teaching. During fellowship, fellows typically publish 2-6 manuscripts and present regularly at Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Society for Gynecologic Investigation meetings. A list of our recent fellows and the academic programs to which they have been recruited following completion of fellowship follows.
Application Process
All Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellow positions are filled through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Application materials are submitted through the
Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), via the Dean's Office of the applicant's medical school. We accept application
ONLY through ERAS.
A
complete application file consists of:
- An ERAS application (Common Application Form)
- A personal statement
- At least three letters of recommendation (from Ob/Gyn, Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics, etc.)
The UCSD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Training Program participates in the National Resident Matching Program. You must also call or write the NRMP for application. Your file should be complete with us by
May 31st of the year preceding your fellowship. Interviews will be scheduled between the last week of August through first week of September. If you would like to discuss the fellowship or for more information, feel free to call Laura Diaz (858) 249-1207.