Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Quality Improvement Training

Quality improvement is an essential component of neonatal medicine.

Each fellow joins a quality improvement team and participates in a quality improvement project. Opportunities for advanced training are available for fellows who wish to pursue quality improvement or implementation science as a career focus.

Quality Improvement Teams

The NICU has active and engaged multidisciplinary teams focusing on quality in the following areas:

  • Breastfeeding
  • Infection Prevention
  • Mechanical Ventilation
  • Nutrition
  • The Tiny Baby Project
  • Pre-operative Congenital Heart Disease
  • Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
  • Non-Invasive Ventilation
  • Antibiotic Stewardship
  • Complex Surgical Conditions

Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC)

The NICU at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt is an active member in the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC). Fellows have the opportunity to be involved in TIPQC.

Quality Improvement Curriculum

Fellows receive didactic education in quality improvement methodology through the department pediatric subspecialty fellow curriculum and through an annual four-part workshop designed specifically for neonatal fellows.

Mentored Quality Improvement Project

In addition to performing a hypothesis-driven research project, each fellow also participates in a quality improvement project. At the end of the first year of fellowship, each fellow will join one of the multi-disciplinary quality improvement teams. Fellows learn the essentials of quality improvement methodology through project participation under the mentorship of our Director of Quality and a faculty member from their quality improvement team.