The Neonatology Residency at Austral University Hospital is a post-basic residency, started in 2011. It has been accredited by the Ministry of Health of the Nation and the Argentine Society of Pediatrics since 2016, and in 2025 it was accredited by CONEAU as a University Specialist Career.
The program offers one annual vacancy, with a total duration of two years.
To date, 12 residents have graduated, currently working or having worked in the Neonatology Service of the Hospital or other reference institutions.
This is a two-year Post-Basic Residency, for which a complete Residency in Pediatrics is required as a condition of admission.
Titles obtained
Upon graduation, the university specialist degree will be awarded by the Universidad Austral because the residency program is accredited by CONEAU. A specialist degree from a CONEAU-accredited program is valid nationwide. Furthermore, the residency program is recognized by the National Ministry of Health, which allows graduates to obtain specialty certification from the Ministry.
Accreditations
The aim of the Residency is to provide an excellent academic and healthcare environment in which residents acquire the necessary skills to:
Comprehensive care for newborns with high and maximum complexity.
The development of tools for clinical research and neonatal epidemiology.
The acquisition of the professional, human and academic skills necessary for a solid career in Neonatology.
The Neonatology Service began operating in 2000, coinciding with the opening of the Austral University Hospital, and has experienced sustained growth. It is a tertiary service located within a maternity ward with approximately 2500 births annually, serving as a referral center for patients from across the country.
The hospital has a leading Obstetric-Perinatal Center and Fetal Medicine Unit, admitting pregnant women and high-risk fetuses, working in an interdisciplinary manner with genetics, neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, cardiovascular surgery and pediatric surgery.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has 25 beds, equipped with highly complex technology for pulmonary and cerebral support, high-frequency ventilation, ECMO and therapeutic hypothermia, among others.
The program is complemented by a Simulation Center, which allows training in real clinical scenarios in a safe environment, and by an interdisciplinary clinic for long-term follow-up of the neurodevelopment of premature and high-risk patients.
The Neonatology Service is part of the Neocosur Collaborative Network, a regional consortium of more than 25 units of excellence, focused on the continuous improvement of results through systematic monitoring and collaborative research.
Within this network, our mortality rate in very low birth weight newborns (<1500 g) is among the lowest, with 77% bronchopulmonary dysplasia-free survival and a 2% incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis.
Internal and external rotations:
High complexity and volume of care
The Unit serves a highly complex neonatal population, including 30–40 very low birth weight newborns per yearCongenital heart disease, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, myelomeningocele, complex malformations of the central nervous system, monochorionic twin pregnancies, transfusion-transfusion syndrome and severe IUGR, with outstanding clinical results.
Interdisciplinary approach
The Service is integrated into a Maternal and Child Department with a strong perinatal focus, interacting permanently with Obstetrics, Fetal Medicine, Fetal Surgery, Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Human, ethical and holistic development
The program aligns with the Hospital's institutional purpose:
“To care for each person with a transcendent purpose”Promoting a medicine centered on the patient and their family, with extended parental stay, active listening, empathetic dialogue and a permanent commitment to quality care.
Humanistic training is part of the cross-cutting aspects of all residences.
Scientific activity
Residents participate in specialized research rotations, during which, through dedicated mentorship, they acquire methodological knowledge and practical experience in clinical and epidemiological research. These rotations allow residents to join ongoing projects within the Department as well as develop their own projects, according to their interests.
As a mandatory part of their training, each resident completes a Final Integrative Project, presented in the format of a research project, integrating the knowledge acquired throughout the residency.
The work in which the residents participate has been consistently presented at the main national and international congresses of the specialty, reflecting an active and continuous scientific activity of the Service.
Collaborative work environment
Our Unit has been continuously participating since 2010 in the Neocosur Neonatal Network, a regional collaborative network in which the results of more than 35 high-complexity centers in South America are continuously recorded, analyzed and compared.
Within this framework, the Service actively participates in multicenter epidemiological and intervention studies, as well as in quality improvement initiatives, promoting a culture of collaborative work, critical analysis of results and joint learning among institutions.
Collaboration with scientific societies
Several members of the Neonatology Service staff have participated and continue to actively participate in committees and work areas of the Argentine Society of Pediatrics, contributing to the academic and scientific development of the specialty at the national level.
The Neonatology Residency at Austral University Hospital is accredited by the Argentine Society of Pediatrics, which supports the quality of the program's training and its alignment with the national standards of the specialty.
Our residents are constantly exposed to an academic environment by participating in the general seminars of the Hospital Austral and the Maternal and Child Health Department. They play an important role in formal and informal teaching for both undergraduate and postgraduate students (Pediatric Specialist Program). Monthly literature reviews and a weekly perinatal conference are held.
Residents complement their training with external rotations at the local level and, optionally, internationally. In addition, they are required to complete supplementary training courses common to all residency programs, namely:
Humanities Subjects: Bioethics, Anthropology, Theology.
Methodological Subjects: Research methodology and biostatistics.
The Service is organized under a Headquarters/Deputy Headquarters and divided into the following areas:
Academic activities:
Director: Gabriel Musante
gmusante@cas.austral.edu.ar
Co-director: Maria Carola Capelli
mcapelli@cas.austral.edu.ar
