Fellowship Education Program
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Maternal Child Health (MCH) Fellowship
We are currently only accepting applications for the Maternal Child Health fellowship. All other fellowships are on hold until September 2009. We appreciate inquiries of interest from applicants who are Board Certified or Board Eligible Family Physicians and are eligible to obtain a New York State physician license. We anticipate funding beginning on July 1, 2010.
Program Overview
The Maternal Child Health (MCH) fellowship program is designed to train leaders in Family Medicine who are interested in practicing in an underserved area or in an academic setting. This one-year fellowship is offered in collaboration with the Departments of Obstetrics and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Our fellowship provides advanced clinical training in maternity and newborn care. Fellows will receive training in c/section delivery, postpartum tubal ligations, OB ultrasound, newborn resuscitation and stabilization, vacuum assisted vaginal delivery and the care of complicated obstetric patients. The majority of the fellows’ time is spent on the labor deck at the Family Maternity Center at Highland Hospital with additional time in the ultrasound lab at Highland Hospital and the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Strong Hospital. Interested fellows may also receive training in colposcopy.
Fellows spend two half days per week in the Highland Family Medicine office seeing general family medicine patients and continuity OB patients. Additionally, fellows conduct group prenatal visits along with midwives at the Young Mothers Program, a public high school for pregnant teens.
Family Centered Maternity Care
We care for a very diverse patient population, including many refugees from Eastern
Africa. An important part of our mission is caring for underserved women and
children.
MCH Fellowship Director
Lois Van Tol, MD is the Director of the MCH Fellowship. She is a fellowship-trained family physician and an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine who is active in OB/GYN teaching.
She completed an MCH fellowship and practiced full scope family medicine including Cesarean sections for eight years in rural Wisconsin prior to coming to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. While working in rural Wisconsin, she organized a series of Maternity Care Conferences for Amish midwives and provided medical backup services for the midwives.
Her special interests include include colposcopy, OB ultrasound, and breastfeeding. Lois is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, Physicians for Human Rights, American Academy of Family Physicians, and Physicians for a National Health Program. She has spent time in Haiti working at a rural health clinic and works with the many refugee patients at the Family Medicine Center.
Number of Fellowships
Two fellows are recruited each fellowship year.
Benefits
Although outside moonlighting is discouraged, some opportunities exist for extra income from approved activities. Benefits include malpractice insurance, four weeks of vacation, and CME time and money.
- Salary: $60,000/year
- CME funding: $1500/year
- Vacation: 4 weeks/year
- CME leave: 1 week/year
- Malpractice insurance provided
- Health insurance plan same as faculty
Fellows are expected to be busy and continually challenged by new opportunities. However, a serious effort is made to avoid the “overwork syndrome” that occurs in some medical settings.
After Graduation
Fellows have distinguished themselves in academic and clinical practice 
careers after leaving the program. No fellow to date has been denied privileges which have been requested. A listing of former fellows is available for serious candidates to contact.
Faculty
The Family Medicine Department has an excellent group of nine faculty family physicians who include maternity and newborn care in their practices. Several faculty have international and rural experience. Cesarean section training is provided primarily by university and community-based obstetricians.
The Hospital
Highland Hospital is a small community hospital
which emphasizes primary care and friendly, personalized service. There are
about 3600 deliveries a year at Highland. All patients are considered “teaching” patients.
About 30 Board Certified obstetricians and 6 family physicians conduct
their private practices at Highland, in addition to the Family Medicine practice.
A full-time perinatologist is available for consultation and teaching.
An active midwifery service began in September of 2000. All standard obstetric
interventions are available at Highland, but the hospital is also receptive
to alternative styles of childbirth.
The cesarean section rate is about 21%. The Maternity service is staffed jointly by Family Medicine residents and OB residents, who have a long tradition of mutual respect and collaboration.
Eligibility
Candidates should have completed a family medicine residency program, be board-eligible or board-certified in family medicine, and obtained a New York State License six months prior to starting the fellowship.
Application Process
To qualify for admission to the fellowship, candidates must:
- Print and complete the MCH Fellowship application.
- Submit an electronic CV and a personal statement giving your reasons for pursuing this fellowship.
- Provide three (3) signed, sealed, and mailed reference letters, including one from the Program Director of your residency program or Department Chair. Include reference to your clinical ability, professional qualification, and moral character. These reference letters must be printed on the referencing organization's official letterhead and mailed under separate cover to the Fellowship Coordinator.
- Obtain a New York State license, hospital privileges, and HMO provider status.
- Mail your completed application with the requested support documentation to the Fellowship Coordinator (see below).
Selected applicants will be invited for an interviewing visit, which will give the applicant a chance to meet many individuals who will be important to their program, and to see life in the Family Maternity Center (the labor floor) as well as the Rochester region.
Contact Information
For further information, write or call:
Lois J. Van Tol, MD, Director
Maternal Child Health Fellowship
Highland Family Medicine
777 South Clinton
Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620 USA
Phone: (585) 279-4842
Fax: (585) 442-8319
Email: Lois_Vantol@urmc.rochester.edu
OR
Fellowship Coordinator, Maternal Child Health Fellowship
Highland Family Medicine
777 South Clinton Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620 USA
Phone: (585) 279-4820
Fax: (585) 442-8319
Email: Jeanne_Klee@urmc.rochester.edu
