As a neonatologist you are involved in everything from resuscitation at birth to care of the sickest newborns to the care of common neonatal issues on the postnatal ward. Your level of involvement will depend on whether you’re a fellow, registrar or resident.
You will be involved in the assessment and management of unwell babies who may have a wide range of underlying diagnoses including those born prematurely (23 weeks gestation onwards), infections, breathing problems, difficult and/or traumatic birth, underlying cardiac and or surgical problems, as well as genetic, endocrine, and metabolic conditions.
As a neonatologist, given your patients are babies, you must rely heavily on a strong knowledge of physiology, pathology, and clinical skills. You also rely on the skill and knowledge of nursing staff and parental concerns to alert you to any change in the condition of the baby.
Additional areas of involvement include:
A typical day can be very busy attending deliveries, doing ward rounds and managing sick babies.
As a neonatologist you should have the following skills and interests:
As a neonatologist you need to have a keen interest in neonatal intensive care to join as a trainee. To see if neonatology is for you, you can complete a rotation as a general paediatric trainee or complete a rotation in neonatal intensive care as part of your general practice training.
Neonatology is rewarding especially when you see an extremely premature baby going home.
Specialist training in Australia and New Zealand takes a minimum of six years and is comprised of three years Basic Training in Paediatrics.
You need to complete the FRACP written and clinical examinations and three years of advanced training in Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine.Once you complete your training, you can either work in surgical Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Newborn Emergency Transport Service (NETS) or in the perinatal centre. There are opportunities to work in both private and public hospitals.
