Hi -
Neonatology is a pediatric specialty so you need to complete a 3 year pedi program before entering neonatology fellowships. Most pediatric residents interview for and choose a fellowship program in neo during their second year of residency. There is no particular match program for neonatology. One simply applies to programs of interest and are then selected for interviews, etc. At some medical schools it is possible to do a "sub-internship" as a senior medical student in neo to get an idea of the field up close.
Accredited neonatology fellowships are all 3 years in length. This usually consists of a little over one year of full-time clinical work and most of the rest of the time doing some type of research. This can be basic science (e.g. molecular biology), animal model work (e.g. pulmonary physiology) or clinical research. Although it was a "hot" area 10-15 years ago, I think there has been some decrease in interest in fellowships in neo lately and there usually isn't much problem in getting a fellowship for students who do reasonably well academically. Frequently, potential fellows will look for suitable areas of research in a program as much as in the clinical patient care situation.
Neonatology does involve a lot of night work (allows time for occaisionally reading of pre-med discussion groups for example), as babies enjoy being born at night! But, I don't really believe the lifestyle is that much worse than many other specialties.
Take care and good luck with your chosen field. Neo is a great one to choose!
Regards
"oldbear" 🙂