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Fellows in the Division of Newborn Medicine enjoy a broad variety of research opportunities in developmental biology, perinatal epidemiology, molecular biology, genetics, outcomes research, and clinical investigation. The goal of the Fellowship Program’s research training is to provide a foundation for successful independent inquiry by focusing and developing research interests and skills in a supportive, collegial environment. Careful mentoring, structured didactic sessions and regular research conferences can be supplemented with a wealth of resources from the Tufts Medical Center community, allowing each fellow's training to be tailored to individual goals.
First-Year Fellows
Research endeavors begin early in the first year, but are paced gradually to accommodate clinical responsibilities. An initial orientation to the Division's research environment is followed by selection of an academic mentor. Fellows may choose their mentor from among the faculty of the Division of Newborn Medicine, other faculty in the Department of Pediatrics or other departments in the Tufts University School of Medicine, other research institutions in the Tufts University Health Sciences Campus, or other Boston academic institutions. Thereafter, fellows devote the remainder of their first year to acquiring greater familiarity with the literature and methods in their chosen area of research, and to initial investigations that focus specific research interests and questions. Early experiments provide the opportunity for training and experience in data management, analysis, and interpretation, and the results may be used for initial efforts at preparation of abstracts and research presentations for peers within the Division. We encourage fellows to attend a regional and/or national research conference during the first year.
Second- and Third-Year Fellows
In the second and third years of fellowship clinical responsibilities are reduced, and there is an increased emphasis on research. Fellows acquire advanced experience and training in data evaluation and interpretation. As initial experiments are completed and facility with the research literature grows, fellows begin to build on existing results by developing and designing new research projects. The second and third years also provide more focused training in preparation of abstracts and manuscripts, including facile integration of computer resources in academic work. During this phase of training fellows are encouraged to undertake initial efforts at preparation of grants, and may begin pursuit of funds to extend structured research training into the junior faculty years if they wish. During the second or third years, fellows are encouraged to present their research at regional and/or national conferences.
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