Program Overview
Our Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship program will provide you with a comprehensive education in the field of perinatal medicine using a curriculum rooted in didactic education, clinical experience and research training.
During your three years with us, you’ll complete rotations in:
- Ultrasound
- Genetics and genomics
- Our outpatient clinic
- Consultative care, including inpatient
- Labor and delivery
- Adult intensive care
- Elective topics
You’ll also gain experience interacting with pathology, anesthesiology and the neonatal intensive care units.
Our approach to care is multidisciplinary and patient-focused. We believe the best doctors aren’t just great clinicians. They understand how to communicate with their patients, empathize and understand each person’s unique life circumstances.
That’s why we offer our fellows a unique opportunity to be involved in multidisciplinary patient counseling with the patient, their family and other health professionals from specialties such as neonatal intensive care, obstetrics, pediatric cardiology, pediatric neurosurgery and pediatric surgery.
During this session, the team — including the patient and their family — will review recommendations for antepartum, labor and delivery, and postpartum management. This includes discussing the expected prognosis for the child and postnatal procedures for appropriate infants, such as those with congenital anomalies. These conferences are an opportunity for multidisciplinary collaboration, and they’re unique in including the patient. Fellows see this as a valuable opportunity to learn about team collaboration, continuity of care and sensitive, effective communication.
Geisinger has a strong tradition of research and innovation, and your fellowship will be rounded out with at least 12 months of dedicated research training.
During my interview process, I was immediately impressed with the staff and attending physicians at GMC. I felt that they were interested in me as a person, and that they had a strong motivation to provide an excellent educational experience. Now, over halfway through my fellowship, I have found my initial impression to be accurate. I am pleased with the variety of educational and research experiences, and I appreciate being part of a strong and growing MFM program. As a husband and father, one of my main concerns was the health and happiness of my family. Although Danville is much smaller than where we lived previously, my wife and children are quite happy with the variety of activities, school system and overall quality of life. Given the chance, we would do it all again!”
The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship at Geisinger was exactly what I was looking for in a fellowship. It is very well structured and builds on your skills as you progress through your three years to ensure that when you graduate, you are a competent MFM. Beyond the month of ultrasound in our first year, we continue to build on our ultrasound skills by having twice-a-month ultrasound days with a designated ultrasound sonographer to help us. We have designated research months in which we can spend time on various research projects. We have wonderful support from our faculty and through the Henry Hood Center for Health Research to assist us in the development, structure and completion of our projects. We really work as a team here, and whether we are in clinic or covering the MFM service, we have a team of nurse practitioners, genetic counselors, residents and attendings all working together to give our patients the best care.”
Research
- Mackeen AD, Quinn S, Movva V, Berghella V, Ananth CV. Intracervical balloon catheter for labor induction after rupture of membranes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2021 Jun.
- King LJ, Mackeen AD, Nordberg C, Paglia MJ. Maternal risk factors associated with persistent placenta previa, Placenta, Symons Downs D, Pauley AM, Leonard KS, Satti M, Cumbo N, Teti I, Stephens M, Corr T, Roeser R, Deimling T, Legro RS, Pauli JM, Mackeen AD, & Bailey Davis L. Obstetric physicians’ beliefs and knowledge on guidelines and screening tools to reduce opioid use after childbirth. Obstet Gynecol, 2021 Feb 1.
- Mackeen AD, Young AJ, Hetherington V, Lutcher S, Mowery J, Symons Downs D; Bailey-Davis L. Encouraging appropriate gestational weight gain in high-risk gravida: a randomized controlled trial. Obesity Science & Practice, 2021.
- Sullivan M, Cunningham K, Angras K, Mackeen AD. Duration of postpartum magnesium sulfate for seizure prophylaxis in women with preeclampsia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, 2021.
- Strassberg ER, Fisher SM, Mackeen AD, Sun H and Paglia MJ. Comparison of Different Methods of Patient Education on Preeclampsia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, 2020 Jul 6;1-5.
- Khalifeh A, Fleisher J, Gressel G, Berghella V, Leiby B, Mackeen AD. Patient preferences for method of cesarean skin closure: secondary outcomes from a randomized trial. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, 2020 Feb.
- Strassberg E; Schuster Meike; Rajaram A; Paglia MJ; Neubert AG; Ross JW; Sun H; Mackeen AD. Comparing diagnosis, management and outcomes of fetal growth restriction using different growth curves. J Ultrasound Med, 2019.
- Power ML, Lott ML, Mackeen AD, DiBari J, Schulkin J. Associations between maternal body mass index, gestational weight gain, maternal complications, and birth outcome in singleton, term births in a largely non-Hispanic white, rural population. J Women's Health, 2019 Apr.
- Ross JW, Betz A, Paglia MJ, Feng W, Neubert AG, Mackeen AD. Short- and long-term growth as a function of abnormal Doppler flow in growth-restricted fetuses. Prenatal Cardiology, 2019 Dec 31; 8(1): 76-79.
- Power ML, Gaspar-Oishi M, Gibson K, Kelly L, Lott ML, Mackeen AD, Overcash R, Rhoades C, Turrentine M, Yamamura Y, Schulkin J. A survey of women and their providers regarding gestational weight gain. J Women’s Health, 2019 Apr 30. [E pub ahead of print]. PMID: 31038383.
- Mackeen AD, Ross JW, Betz A, Bringman JJ, Feng W, Paglia MJ. Interartery discordance in fetuses with growth restriction. Prenatal Cardiology, 2018. [In press].
- Rajaram AM, Strassberg ER, Paglia MJ, et al. Comparing Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes of Fetal Growth Restriction Using Hadlock vs. Fenton Growth Curves [14OP]. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2017;129 Suppl 1:5S-5S.
- Strassberg ER, Rajaram AM, Neubert AG, et al. 132: Comparing diagnosis, management and outcomes of fetal growth restriction on two different growth curves. AJOG. 2017; 216:S92.
- Reed MJ, Schuster M, Strassberg ER. Preeclampsia, Eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. In: Hyzy RC, ed. Hyzy’s Evidence Based Critical Care: A Case Study Approach. 1st ed. New York, NY: Springer
- Strassberg ER, Power M, Stark L, Schulkin J, Paglia MJ. Patient Attitudes Toward Influenza and Tdap Vaccination in Pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2016; 127 58S
- Schuster M, Madueke-Laveaux OS, Mackeen AD, Feng W, Paglia MJ. The effect of the MFM obesity protocol on cesarean delivery rates. AJOG, 2016 Oct;
- Schuster M, Jaramillo L, Wild J, Mackeen AD, Paglia MJ. The impact of minor trauma on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Trauma, 2016.
- Schuster M, Mackeen DA. Fetal Endometriosis: a case report. Fertility and Sterility. 2015 Jan: 103(1): 160-2.
- Mackeen AD, Packard RE, Schuster M, Ross JW. Oral Prostaglandin E2 for induction of labour. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2015.