Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perspective
  • Published:

Training pathways and careers for neonatologists interested in cardiovascular care

Journal of Perinatology volume 42, pages 534–539 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Neonatologists and neonatal-perinatal trainees continue to be invested in the cardiovascular care of the newborn, many focusing their careers in this area of expertise. Multiple formalized structured and non-structured training pathways have evolved for neonatologists caring for infants with congenital heart disease and other cardiovascular pathologies. Furthermore, the evolution of neonatal hemodynamic science over the past decade has also spawned a formal training pathway in hemodynamics consultation to enhance standard of care and guide the management of infants at risk for cardiovascular compromise. Neonatologists have also chosen to expand upon on their neonatology training with clinical and research exposure to enhance their roles in neonatal cardiovascular care, including fetal care consultation, delivery room management, and perioperative cardiac intensive care consultation. To provide insight and career guidance to interested neonatal trainees and early career physicians, this perspective article highlights several different pathways in the care of neonates with cardiovascular disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Training and career pathways for neonatologists interested in cardiovascular care of the newborn infant.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Noonan JA. A history of pediatric specialties: the development of pediatric cardiology. Pediatr Res. 2004;56:298–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Johnson JT, Wilkes JF, Menon SC, Tani LY, Weng H-Y, Marino BS, et al. Admission to dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care units is associated with decreased resource use in neonatal cardiac surgery. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2018;55:2606–2614.e5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jacobs JP, He X, Mayer JE Jr, Austin EH, Quintessenza JA, Karl TR, et al. Mortality trends in pediatric and congenital heart surgery: an analysis of the society of thoracic surgeons congenital heart surgery database. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016;102:1345–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Burstein DS, Rossi AF, Jacobs JP, Checchia PA, Wernovsky G, Li JS, et al. Variation in models of care delivery for children undergoing congenital heart surgery in the United States. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2010;1:8–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hamrick SEG, Ball MK, Rajgarhia A, Johnson BA, DiGeronimo R, Levy PT. Integrated cardiac care models of neonates with congenital heart disease: the evolving role of the neonatologist. J Perinatol. 2021;4:1774–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ross RD, Brook M, Feinstein JA, Koenig P, Lang P, Spicer R, et al. 2015 SPCTPD/ACC/AAP/AHA Training Guidelines for Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Programs (Revision of the 2005 Training Guidelines for Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Programs): introduction [published correction appears in J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015 Aug 11;66(6):761]. J Am Coll Cardiol 2015;66:672–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Levy VY, Bhombal S, Villafane J, McBride ME, Chung S, Figueroa M, et al. Status of multidisciplinary collaboration in neonatal cardiac care in the United States. Pediatr Cardiol. 2021;42:1088–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hébert A, Lavoie PM, Giesinger RE, Ting J, Finan E, Singh Y, et al. Evolution of training guidelines for echocardiography performed by the neonatologist: toward hemodynamic consultation. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2019;32:785–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. El-Khuffash AF, McNamara PJ. Neonatologist-performed functional echocardiography in the neonatal intensive care unit. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2011;16:50–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bischoff AR, Giesinger RE, Rios DR, Mertens L, Ashwath R, McNamara PJ. Anatomic concordance of neonatologist-performed echocardiography as part of hemodynamics consultation and pediatric cardiology. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2021;34:301–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Shawn Sen

  2. Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Phil T. Levy & Sarah U. Morton

  3. Division of Neonatology, Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Shannon E. G. Hamrick

  4. Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Noorjahan Ali

  5. Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Scott W. Osborne

  6. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Danielle R. Rios & Patrick J. McNamara

  7. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA, USA

    Amir H. Ashrafi

  8. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Carl J. Backes & Molly K. Ball

  9. Division of Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Shawn Sen

  10. Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Phil T. Levy & Sarah U. Morton

  11. Division of Neonatology, Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Shannon E. G. Hamrick

  12. Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Noorjahan Ali

  13. Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Scott W. Osborne

  14. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Danielle R. Rios & Patrick J. McNamara

  15. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA, USA

    Amir H. Ashrafi

  16. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Carl J. Backes & Molly K. Ball

Authors
  1. Shawn Sen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phil T. Levy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shannon E. G. Hamrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Noorjahan Ali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Scott W. Osborne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Danielle R. Rios
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Sarah U. Morton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Amir H. Ashrafi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Carl J. Backes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Patrick J. McNamara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Molly K. Ball
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC) Cardiac Focus Group

  • Shawn Sen
  • , Phil T. Levy
  • , Shannon E. G. Hamrick
  • , Noorjahan Ali
  • , Scott W. Osborne
  • , Danielle R. Rios
  • , Sarah U. Morton
  • , Amir H. Ashrafi
  • , Carl J. Backes
  • , Patrick J. McNamara
  •  & Molly K. Ball

Contributions

SS and PL contributed equally to the initial concept and design of the manuscript. SS, PL, SH, NA, SO, DR, SM, AA, CB, PM, and MB all critically reviewed, revised, and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shawn Sen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sen, S., Levy, P.T., Hamrick, S.E.G. et al. Training pathways and careers for neonatologists interested in cardiovascular care. J Perinatol 42, 534–539 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01329-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01329-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links