The one-year Maternal Child Health Fellowship Program (MCH) is a collaboration between the Family Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology Residency programs at UCSF Fresno. The fellowship is aimed at providing an extended spectrum of training in maternity and newborn care designed for the family physician. Fellows participate fully in the care of their patients and receive hands-on training in operative delivery, high-risk antepartum care and care of the ill newborn.
The principal training site is located at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC), a 733-bed hospital offering a full range of hospital care services. CRMC is part of Community Medical Centers (CMC), a nonprofit, locally owned health care system that operates four acute-care hospitals and a variety of other health care facilities. The Regional Medical Center provides inpatient and comprehensive outpatient services to patients of all ages. Special hospital services include a level 1 regional trauma center, a level 1 regional burn center, and the only birth center in the region designated to handle high-risk pregnancies with the largest level three neonatal intensive care unit in the region. More than 6,000 infants, a third being high-risk, are delivered at CRMC each year.
Accepted fellows enter the program receiving a faculty appointment at the level of clinical instructor within the department of family and community medicine. Fellows spend a majority of their time on the labor and delivery unit at CRMC under the supervision of obstetrical faculty and work with UCSF Fresno OBGYN and Family Medicine residents and medical students. Rounding out the experience includes time in the high-risk perinatal clinic at the University Women’s Specialty Center providing high risk antepartum care and enhancing antenatal ultrasound skills alongside experienced maternal-fetal-medicine faculty. A 4-week intensive block at CRMC’s level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit completes the core requirements for the experience, providing care with board certified neonatologists that cover CMC’s two hospitals at Fresno (CRMC) and Clovis (CCMC). Elective opportunities are available, including opportunities with community faculty and other area health institutions. Fellows also maintain a continuity practice at one of the department’s rural community health center partner sites and have both inpatient and outpatient family medicine and obstetrics supervisory, teaching, and direct patient care responsibilities with the Family Medicine Residency Program throughout the year. Fellows receive faculty development as family medicine faculty and have access to resources to participate in a required research experience and related scholarly projects in maternal-child care.
Fellowship applicants must have completed a Family Medicine residency program and be ABFM board-certified to participate in the program. Applicants must also have a demonstrated interest in maternal child health. One or two highly qualified fellows will be selected each year.
Fresno is a medium-sized city and the cultural and financial center of California’s Central Valley. Cultural offerings are diverse, and include repertory theatres, musicals and plays, symphony performances, art museums, and varied cuisine including Asian, European, Basque, and Mediterranean. For the outdoorsman, recreational opportunities in the area are rich and varied, including hiking, rafting, and include three nearby national parks — Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon.
Please Note: The program is not taking applications for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Ivan Gomez, MD
