Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship

The Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University is a comprehensive program designed to provide didactic education, research experience, and extensive clinical training within an active tertiary care center 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:

• 22 months of clinical blocks, alternating supervision of inpatient obstetrics and/or maternal-fetal medicine services with outpatient and ultrasound clinical rotations
• 13 months of protected time for research
• 1 month for an elective rotation

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 & More

The 13 months of research are a tremendously important time of the fellowship. They are divided into three months in the first year, four months in the second year, and six months in the third year. Fellows are encouraged to pursue specific research areas of interest to them. One or more MFM faculty mentors will be responsible for collaborating with the fellow in the planning and execution of their research project.  

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

Recent Fellow Pursuits: 

• Systematic Review on Oral Anticoagulants and Lactation​
• Retrospective cohort msAFP screening​
• Randomized Clinical Trial on GDM Management​
• Retrospective Cohort Study Inpatient Laboratory Monitoring of Preeclampsia with Severe Features​
• Systematic Review on Diuretic use for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy
• Fetal growth abnormalities and pregnancy outcomes​​
• Antepartum anemia qualitative project
• Anemia treatment QI project​

Our Research Program

Didactic conferences are provided in varying formats, including formal lecture series, clinical conferences, scholarly article review sessions, and research meetings. 

Conference Schedule

The program structure is supported by mentorship, feedback, and evaluation to ensure individualized growth and development for each fellow 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 13 months of protected time to pursue research. Fellows also have protected time Wednesdays from 12-1PM for SMFM fellow lectures, and Thursdays from 8:15 AM to 12 PM for the weekly MFM Division meeting.  

Fellow Evaluations

Fellows are evaluated at the end of each rotation by the faculty member(s) most familiar with their performance. Fellows receive informal feedback 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, along with feedback from the Clinical Competency 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, Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital, Abington Hospital, and Nemours Children’s Hospital. 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, Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital and Abington Hospital provides fellows with hands-on obstetric ultrasound scanning experience in a high-volume setting with a focus on obstetric ultrasound and diagnostic prenatal procedures. To gain additional exposure to complex fetal care, fellows spend time with the Maternal Fetal Medicine team at Nemours Children’s Hospital.