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Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine

About

Our fellowship program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine is a unique one: it is a partnership between Kapi’olani Medical Center (KMCWC), Tripler Army Medicine Center (TAMC) and Hawai’i Residency Programs, Inc (HRP) with sponsorship by University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine (UH JABSOM). This is the only military-civilian partnership within the military graduate medical education system. Fellows consist of both active-duty military and civilian trainees. This ACGME accredited program is approved to train up to six fellows.

Established in 1987 with its first graduates in 1989, the program has trained over 37 military neonatologists and 6 civilian neonatologists.

Our Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship program will train pediatricians (military and civilian) to become neonatologists that successfully balance compassionate family-centered clinical practice with the ever-changing science of neonatology for our most vulnerable patient population.

UH JABSOM: Educate current and future healthcare professionals and leaders while establishing community partnerships, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, and pursuing alliances unique to Hawai’i and the Asia-Pacific region.

To graduate clinically competent neonatologists who successfully become board-certified in neonatology after completing a rigorous fellowship training program, and continue to pursue knowledge and clinical skills beyond training.

Core Faculty

The core faculty are those that work within the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. They are responsible for the bulk of the teaching, precepting, and curriculum development for the residency, Medical Student Teaching and Sports Medicine fellowship programs.

The other faculty have clinical appointments with our department and all volunteer their time to work with our residents and medical students. The clinical faculty responsible for residency teaching includes over 100 community physicians, many of whom are active medical staff members at Pali Momi Medicial Center and preceptors/supervisors at the various rotation sites (Tripler Army Medical Center, Hilo Medical Center, and private offices). Faculty responsible for medical student teaching include a wide variety of talented family physicians throughout Hawaii and the Pacific Basin.

Emmanuel R.E. Kling, M.D.
Program Director
Assistant Professor
UH JABSOM
KMCWC NICU
ere@hawaii.edu

Lauren Staiger, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor USU
TAMC NICU
lauren.e.staiger.mil@health.mil

Venkataraman Balaraman, M.B. B.S.
Assistant Program Director
Associate Professor
vbalaraman@hphmg.org

Dawn Dural
Program Administrator
ddural@hawaiiresidency.rog

Program Details

Curriculum

Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine

The fellowship program is three years, split into 13 4-week blocks each year. The clinical and research blocks are broken down as followed:

  1. 14 four-week clinical blocks: seven blocks at KMCWC NICU and seven blocks at TAMC NICU, both located in Honolulu HI, 7.1 miles apart. 
  2. 21 four-week research blocks: it is expected fellows will complete both a research and quality improvement project. Research opportunities exist at UH JABSOM, KMCWC and TAMC, and quality improvement projects exist both at KMCWC and TAMC. 
  3. 2-week block in Maternal-Fetal-Medicine at KMCWC, TAMC and Fetal Diagnostic Institute of the Pacific (a private practice office)
  4. 2-week block in pediatric cardiology at KMCWC, who has the only pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory (opened in 2023) and pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon in the state and Pacific region.
  5. Except during PTO/Leave, fellows take 4 calls per block: calls are split equally between KMCWC and TAMC.

Conferences

  1. Neonatal Fellowship Weekly Conference Thursdays from 1-3pm
  2. Weekly MFM/Neonatology Conference: Fridays from 2:30-3:30pm
  3. Bimonthly Prenatal Pediatric Conference
  4. Join QI and Safety Virtual Conference with other NPM fellowship programs on the west coast. 

Transport
Starting their second year, fellows can transport neonatal patients to the mainland (both civilian and military transports) and also transport neonatal patients from the Pacific region to KMCWC or TAMC, or neonatal patients from neighbor island to KMCWC. Because KMCWC is involved with assisting neighbor island providers with the care of preterm or sick neonates, fellows can do neighbor island neonatal resuscitation training with physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists. 

Rotation Schedule

Schedule

Training sites:

KMCWC NICU: A Level IV NICU, it is the only public neonatal intensive care unit. Approximately 1,000 preterm or sick infants are cared for each year. There are 70 private rooms with an average daily census of 73 neonates. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation if provided in the NICU, and more newborns with congenital heart disease are being cared for at KMCWC with the addition of our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon to our staff and the recently opened pediatric cardiac Cath lab.

TAMC NICU: A Level III NICU, it serves the neonates of active duty and dependent families in the State of Hawai’i, as well as neonates from the Pacific region (including Guam, South Korea, and Okinawa Japan). Approximately 400 neonates are cared for each year. There are 22 private rooms with an average daily census of 10 neonates. 

Application

Please reach out to our PD, APDs and PA for more information on applying to this program.

Lauren Staiger, M.D.
Associate Program Director
lauren.e.staiger.mil@health.mil

Venkataraman Balaraman, M.B. B.S.
Assistant Program Director
vbalaraman@hphmg.org

Dawn Dural
Program Administrator Email: ddural@hawaiiresidency.rog

information on drug testing requirements

Fellows

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Lauren Staiger, M.D.
Chief Fellow PGY-6
F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at USU
National Capital Consortium Pediatric Residency Program at Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center

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PGY-4
Lyndsay Long, M.D.
LMU DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Advocate Children’s Hospital Pediatric Residency Program 

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PGY-4
Catlyn Blanchard, M.D. Ph.D.
SUNY Upstate Medical College
Madigan Army Medical Center Pediatric Residency Program

Salary & Benefits

summary of salary & benefits

Contact

Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program

Emmanuel R.E. Kling, M.D.
Program Director
ere@hawaii.edu

Dawn Dural
Program Administrator
ddural@hawairesidency.org
Phone: (808) 369-1200
Fax: (808) 369-1212

Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children
1319 Punahou Street, 7th floor
Honolulu, Hawaii 9682

Tripler Medical Hospital
1 Jarrett White Rd,
Honolulu, HI 96859