Newborn Brain Society

NNCC Accreditation

NNCC Fellowship Updates

The Newborn Brain Society has taken a leading role in the accreditation of Neonatal Neurocritical Care (NNCC) fellowship training. Recognizing the need for standardization in this rapidly evolving subspecialty, through the work of the NNCC Accreditation Task Force, NBS successfully obtained approval from the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS) for formal accreditation.

This NNCC accreditation marks a significant step toward establishing core competencies and standardized training for healthcare professionals in NNCC, addressing a crucial gap in the care of critically ill neonates. NNCC trainees will include neonatologists, pediatric neurologists, and developmental pediatricians. All will receive dedicated training in the same curriculum of requisite knowledge and skills required for proficiency across the core competencies in this subspecialty, and all will take the same standardized certification examination.

Latest Updates

October 2024 

Coming Soon! NNCC Fellowship Online Application
The application portal for July 2026 fellowship positions will open on the NBS website in January 2025. Stay tuned for more updates!

February 2024
Neonatal Neurocritical Care Certification Examination Application Period Now Open
The application period for the 2024 UCNS Neonatal Neurocritical Care Certification Examination is now open. This is the inaugural year that certification is offered for the subspecialty.  The early application deadline is May 1, 2024. An extended application deadline of May 15, 2024, is available with an additional fee of $500. The examination will take place the week of November 4-8, 2024.  
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Accreditation

Timeline

Two accreditation cycles per year:
January 31, 2024
July 31, 2024

Eligibility Criteria

  • Institutional support
  • Facilities and resources
  • Faculty

Accredited Sites

  •  
  • Children’s National Hospital
  • Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center
  • Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
  • University of California, San Francisco
  • University of Texas Southwestern
  • Washington University

updated January 2024

Certification

Examination Criteria

  • Certification by the ABMS, RCSC or AOS
  • Valid license in the United States or Canada
  • Completion of one of the four eligible pathways:
      • UCNS accredited fellowship
      • Practice track
      • Academic appointment at a UCNS-accredited NNCC fellowship training program
      • Internationally trained applicants with appointments at an NNCC accredited training program
Criteria Details

The practice track is a process that allows physicians who initiated the subspecialty prior to the availability of accredited training programs to qualify for the examination by meeting a defined set of criteria. To apply via this pathway, applicants must fulfill the requirements of the pathway on or before the last date of the current application cycle.

The applicant must submit the following documentation for one of the three following areas in Neonatal Neurocritical Care. Applicants must use template letters provided by the UCNS where applicable.

a. Satisfactory completion of 12 months of formal training (non-accredited in Neonatal Neurocritical Care that has taken place after the completion of formal residency training in Neurology with special qualification in child neurology, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, or Pediatrics with certification in Neonatal Perinatal Medicine. Training or exposure to Neonatal Neurocritical Care given to residents as part of their curriculum will not count toward the 12 months of training. The applicant must provide documentation from the appropriate program director of each institution where the training occurred or a copy of their fellowship completion certificate.

 OR

b. At least 100 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM specifically related to Neonatal Neurocritical Care over the 60 months prior to application. Specification of programs attended and relevance to the field of Neonatal Neurocritical Care must be provided.

OR

 c. A letter from the applicant’s current department chair that states he/she has an active, full-time academic appointment in which his/her teaching responsibilities include instructing one or more of the following in Neonatal Neurocritical Care: medical students, residents, or fellows.

AND

Documentation of a 36-month* period of time in which the applicant has spent a minimum of 25% of his/her time in the practice of Neonatal Neurocritical Care.  Documentation of a 24 month period of time in which the applicant has spent a minimum of 50% of his/her time in the practice of Neonatal Neurocritical Care will also be accepted.

The practice must meet the following criteria:

i. Include evaluation in the context of diagnosis and management of neonates with acute neurological problems and/or longitudinal neurodevelopmental concerns. The applicant’s practice must include conditions in Sections II and III of the Neonatal Neurocritical Care Examination Content Outline.

ii. Have occurred in the United States, its territories, or in Canada.

iii. Have occurred in the 60-month interval immediately preceding application for certification but need not be continuous.

Academic Appointment at a UCNS-Accredited Training Program.

Faculty of a UCNS-accredited training program in Neonatal Neurocritical care must supply a letter, using the  Academic Appointment Verification template, from the applicant’s current department chair that states he/she has an active full-time academic appointment in which his-her teaching responsibilities include instructing Neonatal Neurocritical Care fellows.

Applicants of this pathway must provide practice pattern letters using the Subspecialty Practice Time Verification template. Practice time requirement will mirror the requirement stated in the practice track for each subspecialty. Required criteria for the letters is found within the templates.

Internationally Trained Faculty at UCNS-Accredited Training Programs

Applicant must have an active appointment as a program director or a faculty member of a UCNS-accredited training program or have evidence of a current offer of such an appointment. Such an offer must be written by the chairperson of the appropriate department of the academic institution and state: a) when the appointment began or will begin, b) that the appointment is contingent upon the applicant sitting for, and passing, the next available UCNS certification examination, and c) that retention or recruitment of the applicant is considered by the institution to be essential to the quality of the fellowship program.

Applicant must provide documentation of meeting the practice time requirements stated in the practice track pathway. The practice must:

    • Have occurred in the 60 months immediately preceding the applicant deadline but need not be continuous.

The application must contain a letter from the chairperson, using the Subspecialty Practice Time Verification template,  confirming the practice time requirement has been met. The letter must address the entire practice time period being submitted.