Advanced Practice Provider Neonatal Intensive Care Fellowship

Eligibility

Qualified candidates will have one of the following:

• A master’s degree in nursing, and be currently licensed to practice as a CRNP by Pennsylvania Board of Nurse Examiners; or
• A degree from an AMA-approved physician assistant program or baccalaureate or higher degree program that meets licensure requirements in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and national certification in Pennsylvania or in another state with reciprocity and licensure to practice in Pennsylvania

CRNP candidates must have their neonatal nurse practitioner certification.

In addition, candidates must:

• Have a GPA of 3.5 and higher
• Be highly organized and motivated
• Have NRP certification
• Have outstanding recommendations from clinical preceptors, program directors or professional work experience

Candidates are expected to have all boards passed by the end of May to facilitate credentialing.

How to Apply

Applications for this program open in November each year, with a decision by March.

When open, applications will be accepted through Penn State Health Careers.

View neonatal care faculty

Welcome to Hershey

More About Hershey

Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:

• About the Hershey area
• Virtual tour
• More about Penn State Health and its locations

The mission of the Neonatal Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is to provide a thorough education of current evidence based practice in the field of neonatology along with a variety of critical neonatal patient experiences and procedures that will create a distinguished, critical-thinking APP fellow prepared for a career in high acuity neonatal intensive care units across America.

Objectives are for the fellow to be able to:

• Diagnose, manage, and treat a diversity of neonatal conditions using critical thinking skills above the level of their formal education
• Conduct neonatal resuscitations from 23 weeks gestation to term
• Master common and advanced neonatal procedures
• Become an active participant and leader among a multidisciplinary team while practicing evidence-based medicine

The goal of the fellowship is to provide the experience and education necessary to produce an exceptional neonatal provider.

The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Neonatal Advanced Practice Provider fellow will be provided with experience and education in various departments, including the neonatal intensive care unit, newborn nursery, NICU bedside nursing, NICU high-risk developmental clinic, maternal fetal medicine, pediatric radiology, pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric surgery and pediatric pulmonology.

The Neonatal Advanced Practice Provider fellow will also be provided experience in the Clinical Simulation Center.

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a tertiary-care teaching hospital designated as a level IV neonatal intensive care unit providing the highest care to patients from surrounding areas. Advanced technology, appropriate facilities and a modern approach to health care delivery will provide fellows with the resources needed to become a well-rounded provider who is a leader in the area of neonatal medicine.

The Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine takes pride in its history of producing superior neonatologists and leaders through the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship for doctors.

Fellows will participate in weekly neonatal lectures in conjunction with that medical fellowship program.

Neonatal advanced practice provider fellows will also participate in weekly neonatal morbidity and mortality conferences, perinatal lectures, weekly journal clubs and weekly neonatology lectures given by the experienced members of the division.

• To immerse the fellow in specialty specific competencies, preparing them to think critically above the level received in their formal education.
• To expand the fellow’s knowledge in the field of neonatology via evidence-based practice, research techniques and quality improvement initiatives.
• To foster the leadership and process improvement skills of the fellow.
• To emphasize team-based care and communication with the neonatal-perinatal medicine interdisciplinary health care team.
• To enhance recruitment and retention of the brightest of Penn State’s own graduating physician assistants and neonatal nurse practitioners.
• To fulfill a continued mission of the institution: education of the future health care providers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Each fellow will be required to present one advanced practice provider journal club during the fellowship year. The fellow will also be required to complete two case presentations from their NICU rotation to be presented to the neonatologists, advanced practice provider fellows and medical residents.

Each fellow will also complete one capstone project related to quality improvement to be agreed upon with the program director.

The fellow will be provided with continuing medical education (CME) via weekly neonatal morbidity and mortality meetings and perinatal meetings.