Pediatric Surgery Fetal Medicine Fellowship

The Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program accepts 1 fellow each year and is designed for applicants who have completed at least 3 years of a General Surgery residency program and are interested in learning more about fetal diagnosis, pathophysiology, and intervention.

This fellowship program offers:

• Well-rounded training: Fellows learn comprehensive fetal care, from diagnosis and prenatal counseling to intervention and postnatal follow-up. Fellows gain extensive experience in medical decision-making by working with colleagues to identify which patients are candidates for fetal intervention. The fellow will work with specialists in fetal intervention across the disciplines of pediatric surgery, maternal-fetal medicine, radiology, neonatology, neurosurgery, cardiology, genetics, and anesthesiology.
• Excellent mix of clinical and research opportunities: During this 1-year program, fellows spend approximately 6 months in clinic and 6 months on clinical research, making connections between their research interests and their cases. They also take call for the pediatric surgery team on nights and weekends which augments their clinical experience and allows for postnatal follow-up of patients. Fellows are frequent presenters at conferences, gaining experience in sharing their work.
• Advanced techniques: As part of clinical training at U-M, fellows learn advanced procedures, including surgical treatment of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and management of infants on ECMO. We also have realistic simulation models to practice in-utero techniques for rare procedures.

Fellows spend approximately 6 months on clinical activities and 6 months on clinical research, and gain broad exposure to all aspects of fetal medicine, including:

• Prenatal ultrasound
• Fetal echocardiography
• Fetal MRI
• Prenatal testing
• Genetic counseling
• Percutaneous procedures
• Fetoscopic procedures
• EXIT procedures
• Open fetal surgery

Fellows also take intermittent call on the pediatric surgery service, caring for critically ill children and operating on emergency cases. You’ll work with an expert team of maternal-fetal medicine specialists, pediatric and fetal surgeons, as well as the full spectrum of pediatric subspecialists at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital.

Our Fetal Diagnosis & Treatment Center, led by pediatric and fetal surgeon George B. Mychaliska, MD, builds on long-standing collaborations among the Women's Hospital, the Children's Hospital, and other established prenatal programs at U-M, including the Fetal Diagnostic Center and the Congenital Heart Center’s fetal heart program.

Fellows will find a robust network of research mentors, projects, and resources to engage with at Michigan. Fellows also attend an international conference on fetal medicine. By the end of the fellowship, fellows finish multiple abstracts and publications.