Eligibility Criteria for New Accreditation /Re-accreditation of centers
The institution that wishes to take up the Fellowship program should be able to fulfill the following MINIMUM ESSENTIAL criteria:
1. Establishment: The institution should be in existence with a tertiary level NICU for at least 5 years. The NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) should have been in continuously working condition and is admitting Sick Newborns in NICU for at least 5 years.
2. Infrastructure: The NICU should fulfill the following criteria:
- At least 20 separate incubators/ Radiant Warmers in working condition.
- Central oxygen and suction supply
- At least 2 functional ventilators that can provide CPAP and conventional ventilation with methods such as SIMV/AC etc, to neonates
- Single and double surface phototherapy units (CFL and/or LED)
- Mutipara Monitors having facilities for monitoring continuous ECG, Pulse Oximeters, Invasive BP, NIBP and Rectal Temperature
- Infusion Pumps, Syringe pumps, drip monitors
- Standard equipment for procedures such as lumbar tap, intercostal drain insertion, peritoneal dialysis, exchange transfusion etc
- 24-hr service of portable X-rays
- 24-hr service for basic laboratory investigations
- At Least 480 NICU admissions per year for at least last 5 years.
- DM/DNB (Neonatology) recognized by MCI with at least 5yrs post qualification experience or Post MD (Pediatrics) Fellowship in Neonatology (Fellowship training of IAP/NNF/University/Overseas fellowship of at least 1 year duration) with at least 10 years post qualification experience or MD Pediatrics with 10 yrs of post qualification experience of working in level 3 NICU care. It is must to have at least 1 full time faculty having certified training in neonatology (DM/DNB Neonatology with 5yrs post qualification experience or MD with fellowship training of IAP/NNF/University/Overseas fellowship of at least 1 year duration with 10 year post qualification experience).
- Teacher fellow student ratio should always be 1:1. And the faculty can not be shared with any other neonatology teaching program which is already in place in the department.
- All teachers should be life members of Central IAP and IAP Neonatology Chapter. (Please follow the link for applying for chapter lifetime membership)
- At least 3 resident doctors who have minimum MBBS qualification, working in the unit. The unit should all the time have the coverage of resident doctors having at least MBBS qualification. MD (Ped) residents/Senior residents in the unit is desirable.
- Nursing staff and sister-in-charge should be specially trained and experienced in care of neonates
- The NICU should have appropriate Nurse: patient ratio for Level III and Level II Care
- An in-house obstetric department with a turnover of at least 50 deliveries a month
- Facilities for Training mothers to breastfeed, especially those babies who are the INCU graduates
- Facility for Kangaroo Mother Care
- High Risk Follow up outpatient services to NICU Graduates
- Opthalmologic evaluation of neonates: ROP Screening in NICU and Treatment
- Auditory evaluation of neonates
- Physiotherapy evaluation of neonates
- Surgical treatment of emergency surgical situations in neonates
- The institution should be registered with the local health authorities
1. Application of Intent of interest in starting IAP Neonatology Chapter Fellowship Program/accreditation from Head of the
Institution and Head of NICU
2. Fellowship Center Enrollment Preliminary Evaluation Form (Can be downloaded from the link given below)
3. Faculty /Consultant CV along with Highest qualification Degree Xerox Copy, IAP Membership No, IAP Neonatology
Membership No.
4. Both Hard and soft copies are required. Hard copies should be sent by post to the Secretary Office and Soft copy should
be e mailed to iapneochap@gmail.com
Fellowship centers Inspection Application evaluation:
Institute should send the “Fellowship Center Enrollment Preliminary Evaluation Form” along with application for inspection to the “Secretary Office of IAP Neonatology Chapter” along with Inspection fee as given in the website. After receipt of application the eligibility of the center will be checked by the office and reviewed by the fellowship committee ( min 6 months from the application submission date). Inspection will be carried out only if the center will be fulfilling the above written MINIMUM ESSENTIAL Criteria. It is the entirely the responsibility of the applying center to check the eligibility criteria before applying for the inspection. No refund will be entertained at any time. The applying institution if found eligible for inspection will be notified and inspection will be carried out by 2 inspectors. The cost of travel and lodging of the inspectors will be the responsibility of the applying institution. The institution shall be eligible for having 1 inspection only per 1 year of academic year. In case of re- inspection, it shall be considered as a fresh case and new application form need to be submitted. In case of a change in fellowship coordinator a re-accreditation of the center is required and the center needs to reapply for the inspection through proper application process.
Technical Information
Technical information for the applicant centers relating to IAP Neonatology Chapter fellowship program
- The IAP Neonatology fellowship program is endorsed by the Executive Board of IAP.
- Selection of institute shall be the credentials + location + teaching facility of the institute. All applicant institutes will be physically inspected by a team of one or two members appointed by the chapter and the travel and lodging of these inspectors will be arranged by the applicant institute. The institutes will apply for fellowship through the institute head on institute letterhead and endorsed by the head of the neonatology unit / fellowship program coordinator. The application will be addressed to the Chairperson of the chapter. The institute should be registered with the local authorities and the registration number and certificate should be attached with the application. The Institute must have working Neonatal Intensive Care Unit functional for at least five years. The must have at least 2 full time faculties as outlined above . The accreditation of centres for running fellowship program is valid for 5 years only and reaccreditation will be required after every 5 years.
- Reaccreditation of fellowship centers will be done every five years. Fellowship center should apply for reaccreditation after completion of 4 years of the fellowship program. It will be the fellowship center’s responsibility to get the reaccreditation done before the completion of five years. The chapter will not charge any fee for reaccreditation. The centers which are having MCI recognized DM (Neonatology) or DNB (Neonatology) program running are exempted from the regular reaccreditation
- All teachers at the Institute must be Life members of Central IAP and Life members of the IAP Neonatology Chapter. The IAP Life membership number and IAP Neonatology Chapter life membership of all teachers at the Institute must be mentioned in the application form.
- Each institute that conducts the fellowship program should advertize the positions as widely as possible to receive applications from all parts of the country and then choose the best candidates based on a system of interviews or examination, whatever the institute would prefer. The advertisement can be made in the institute bulletin or on institute notice board and in official instruments of IAP – the Academy today, Indian Pediatrics, and Indian Journal of Practical Pediatrics. Applications may also be invited through other reputed journals published by sister professional organizations.
- Each institute can register one / two candidates as fellows (as per allotment by IAP Neonatology chapter). While Postgraduates who have MD / DNB degrees will take the fellowship examination one year after date of enrollment, the candidate with a DCH qualification will take the exam 1.5 years after date of enrollment. Institutes are encouraged to enroll MD / DNB candidates whenever possible. In the absence of such a candidate, a DCH qualified candidate can be selected. Institutes that are allowed to train two fellowship candidates can have only two enrollments at any given time.
- To ensure uniformity of fellowship admission process the following timeline shall be followed:
Term Admission Process/Fees Late admission with late fees Late fees (in addition of admission fee) No admissions January 1-31st January 1-15th February Rs 1000/- After 15th February July 1-31st July 1-15th August Rs 1000/- After 15th August - Student /Program in-charge shall be responsible for the timely submission of the application form. No new admission in any ciscumstance will be taken after the last date with the grace period is over. (After 15th Feb/15th August).
- All admission /exam forms should have the fellowship incharge/coordinator's signature on submissiom. All the applications should be sent to iapneochap@gmail.com along with all the required documents.
- Institution will inform the chapter about change of fellowship coordinator's name, if and when that happens.
- Institution will inform the chapter about change about any change in teaching faculty.
- Institution shall be responsible for the timely submission of the exam forms from the eligible candidates.
- Institutions will be communicated the venue and date of the fellowship exam at least two months before the exam, and the details of the theory and practical examinations, roll numbers, and the specific dates allotted to individual candidates for practical exam will be communicated at least one month before the dates of examinations.
- The roll number and center allotted to each candidate is non-negotiable. Individual requests from candidates or institutes for change of roll number/center or date of practical examination will not be entertained.
- The annual exams shall be held after 31 Jan and 31 July of the respective years to ensure completion of the stipulated training programme period.
- Examination result will be communicated to the institutes via email immediately as it becomes available. Marks card (with the details of marks) and the certificate will be posted to the institutes within 6 weeks of declaration of result.
- A gold medal will be awarded to the candidates securing maximum marks durinf annual conventon of the IAP Neonatology Chapter inaugural function. The details shall be intimated to the fellowship coordinator/candidate.
- Any dispute between the institute and candidate will be resolved between themselves without any mediation by the chapter.
- All institutes should encourage participation of their fellows for the workshop/CME/Updates/National conference conducted by IAP Neonatology Chapter.
- A student presenting at least 1 free paper or 2 posters at National or State Conference or a publication in a peer reviewed journal during his fellowship tenure shall be awarded additional 20 marks. These marks will be added as bonus marks to theory total, if there is a tie for first rank.
- A fellowship unit may give experience certificate to the students for the tenture of fellowship training.
- If a fellowship co-ordinator who served as teacher for the programme leaves the unit/hospital, it should be informed to the Secretariat. Such a hospital shall undergo repeat inspection process for continuation of recognition of fellowship programme.
- A candidate who leaves the programme for 2 weeks or more without any information to the co.ordinator or the Secretariat shall be considered as absconding.
- Any candidate who remains absent for 4 weeks or more in a 6 months period shall be considered to have the term/posting as in-complete and he shall repeat the post/term.
- Any candidate missing for a period of 6 months or more shall be considered ineligible for further terms and/or fellowship examination.
- A institute shall be eligible for having one inspection only per 6 months of academic year. In case the institute applies for inspection again, it shall be considered as a fresh case and new application form need to be submitted.
- The number of candidates sanctioned per unit shall be based on the number of NICU beds, teachers
and Neonatal Unit admission rate.
Total Numbers 2 Seats 3 Seats 4 Seats Admission >480 800-1000 >1000 Ventilation >100 100-200 >200 Teachers 2 3 4 - The unit needs to fulfill all the criteria given in the respective column. The unit should be separate part of a tertiary multi-specialty hospital or stand alone tertiary referral pediatric hospital.
- All units should be located independently in a separate area with its separate access. They should not be on sharing basis with pediatric or multi-specialty critical care unit.
- Only full time individuals are eligible to be teachers. They should be attached only to the hospital of record with no other outside commitments during at least 8 working hours and is responsible for or shares the responsibility of the functioning of the unit/s within that institution only.
- Visiting consultants/pediatric ICU/part time teachers who provide regular input in patient care and conduct at least one teaching session a week will be an added bonus but will not be officially counted as teachers.
- If a fellowship coordinator who has been running fellowship program for 5 years or more moves to a new center he/she is eligible to apply for fellowship accreditation if the unit is running for 1 year or more.
- If a fellowship coordinator leaves the institute, it is the responsibility of the center/Institute and Coordinator/faculty to inform the chapter office about the change with in 2 weeks. Failure to do so may lead to suspension of fellowship center/ fellowship faculty for 3 years from IAP Neonatology Chapter Fellowship Program. The center will be eligible to take any new student only after the re-inspection of the center is done
