Maternal Child Health Fellowship Expanding to Meet Needs in the Southern Tier, DFM Receives Lactation Grant
The University of Rochester’s Maternal Child Health Fellowship, which trains Family Medicine doctors in high-risk and surgical obstetrics, received five-year HRSA funding in 2021 to expand and enhance the fellowship. Part of that ongoing effort involves expanding care to patients in the Southern Tier.Two tracks are available through the one-year fellowship: a surgically focused track and an advanced obstetrics track. The HRSA funding provided for two advanced obstetrics fellows and two surgically focused fellows. Plans are underway and awaiting final approval to convert one of the advanced positions to a surgical one, so three positions will be surgically focused, and one position will remain advanced obstetrics.
“Our goal is to train more fellows who can care for underserved pregnant people, including those in areas of the Southern Tier and around the country,” said Sarah Tiggelaar, M.D., Director of the Maternal Child Health Fellowship.
The Fellowship partners with the URMC OB/GYN Department and the Jones Memorial Hospital team in Wellsville, N.Y. to integrate clinical experiences in high-volume obstetrics at Highland Hospital and in urban underserved family medicine at Highland Family Medicine. Fellows are trained in intensive obstetrics and women’s health, from labor and delivery in a rural setting, to special-care nursing, lactation, and ultrasound.
“The need for surgical skills in the rural communities is great,” said Alissa Correll, M.D., Associate Director of the Maternal Child Health Fellowship. “We are working to expand the surgical capabilities of our fellows to meet this growing need.”
Addressing breastfeeding inequities
Besides expanding care in the Southern Tier, the Department of Family Medicine received a HEPSO grant in 2023 to fund one full-time and one part-time lactation care manager. The managers provide support for patients who desire to provide human milk to their child and can meet them either in the office or in patients’ homes.
These positions will help address the inequities that exist in the breastfeeding rate among people of color. A patient registry has been created to track outcomes. Based on data from the first year, 43% of the patients assisted by the care managers are Black and 68% of patients are Medicaid-insured.
“It can be challenging to get the exact data we want from electronic medical records, but after the first year, we can see that we are making strides in meeting our goal of promoting health equity through better outreach to the underserved and people of color,” said Elizabeth Brown, M.D., MPH.
As part of the two-year grant, the two lactation care managers were recruited and trained and are working with pregnant and lactating patients at Highland Family Medicine, East Ridge Family Medicine, and North Ponds Family Medicine. Dr. Brown; Annie Jack, M.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine; and Scott Hartman, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Family Medicine, applied for this grant
4/3/2025
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