Our fully accredited fellowship in Sleep Medicine accepts two fellows per year. The goal of the program is to produce well-rounded, caring physicians who are able to diagnose and treat a variety of sleep disorders.
Mission and Vision of the Program
It is to produce well-rounded, caring, dedicated physicians with excellent expertise in Sleep Medicine who are adept at diagnosing and treating a variety of sleep disorders in adults and children.
We aim to achieve this by providing multi-disciplinary training in Sleep Medicine – adult and pediatric, clinical and basic neuroscience. Our excellent group of fellows over the past more than 3 decades have included candidates from diverse backgrounds and diverse residency trainings.
Why Choose our Program
Faculty with varied multi-disciplinary background (adult & pediatric):
Sleep Medicine faculty are from a variety of backgrounds that include - Neurology, Pulmonary Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Neurobiology & basic neuroscience (listed below).
Joint MU – VA (Harry S Truman Veterans Administration hospital) program:
This provides access to somewhat unique adult and pediatric populations, to different sleep evaluation systems (PSG and HSAT) at 2 sites, different exposure to DME (VA DME provided at the VA sleep center site and opportunity to learn the actual PAP and masks and practical aspects of care)
Dedicated Adult & Pediatric Sleep Medicine clinics:
Including Inspire & Remedē
Dedicated rotation on VA pulmonary consult service:
To experience Acute Sleep issues in inpatients.
History
Our Fellowship program started over 30 years ago in 1991. The program was accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 2006, when the ACGME recognized sleep medicine board certification as a specialty program.
The fellowship is centered around state-of-the-art Sleep Disorders Center and Clinics (SDC) which became fully accredited in 1990 and has maintained accreditation ever since.
With 6 fully equipped adult beds and 6 pediatric beds, the SDC does over 2300 Polysomnographic sleep studies (PSGs) in children and adults and over 2000 Home Sleep Apnea Tests (HSATs) every year.
In addition, the Harry S. Truman VA Hospital (HSTVA) does ~1,000 PSGs and over 1500 HSATs.
Dr. Pradeep Sahota joined the faculty in 1987 and was appointed Director of the SDC. Under his stewardship, the program has continued to evolve, from doing In-Center PSGs and MSLTs to adding HSATs, actigraphy, inspire, remede and others.
Faculty
We have multidisciplinary Adult & Pediatric, Clinical & Basic Neuroscience faculty. There are 7 clinical faculty, 6 adult and 1 pediatric sleep medicine faculty (a second pediatric pulmonary and Sleep Medicine faculty member has joined recently), as well as several basic neuroscience faculty. Another adult Sleep Medicine faculty member is joining later this year.
In addition to the regular Sleep Medicine faculty, adjunct faculty include attending faculty from a broad range of specialties including Pulmonary Medicine, ENT, Rheumatology, Psychology, Gastroenterology, and others. These faculty provide education with presentations in Sleep Medicine Grand rounds.
Current Fellowship Program Structure
This is a one-year Sleep Medicine fellowship program. The program accepts 2 fellows each year.
Facilities & Volumes
Our program involves training at 2 sites, The MU Sleep Disorders Center and the Harry S. Truman VA Hospital. With 6 fully equipped adult beds and 6 pediatric beds, the SDC does over 2300 Polysomnographic sleep studies (PSGs) in children and adults and over 2000 Home Sleep Apnea Tests (HSATs) every year.
In addition, HST VAH does ~1,000 PSGs and over 1500 HSATs.
As noted, each site provides the trainees with a unique population of patients, different polysomnographic study equipment, thus providing fellows with a broad educational experience and preparing them for any program/practice they may join in the future. The training includes working with both adult and pediatric sleep medicine patients.
Curriculum & Training
Each fellow rotates through both training sites for a total of 6 months each.
- MU Rotation: 6 half days of clinical activities and the rest for education and catch-up. The fellows read sleep studies four days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Fellows also attend two half-day clinics, each Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning - with 3 different faculty members.
- VA Rotation: 8-9 half days of clinical activities and education. The fellows review sleep studies every morning, Monday through Friday with afternoon clinics on Mondays and Wednesdays for adult sleep patients (with 2 different faculty members). There is also a pulmonary sleep medicine clinic on the first Friday of each month. Thursday afternoons for pediatric sleep patients in the clinic. As noted VA has lower sleep studies volume than MU. During VA rotation, there is 1 week dedicated to Pulmonary Critical care consult service to get exposure to acute issues in Sleep Medicine in inpatients. In addition, we offer a rotation on Pediatric ENT clinic for four half days on Tuesdays. Fellows also have the opportunity to rotate in Psychology, where they can directly observe CBT-I.
Education
There are weekly Sleep Medicine grand rounds/journal club on Wednesdays at 4pm in dedicated Room CE 523. In addition to Sleep Medicine faculty (adult & pediatric) and sleep medicine fellows, Grand Rounds are presented by faculty from Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pulmonary & Critical Care, Psychology, Otolaryngology, Rheumatology, and Gastroenterology.
In addition, all sleep studies are reviewed with Sleep Medicine faculty (adult and pediatric) with hands on education.
Our curriculum covers neurobiology of Sleep to various Sleep Disorders in Adults and Children. This covers topics in neurology, pediatric neurology, pulmonary medicine, pediatric pulmonary medicine, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, and psychology. Fellows also have monthly AASM educational sessions. In addition, the fellows also attend Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement meetings – they are also required to do 1 QA/QI project that they lead.
Research
We have an ongoing Sleep Medicine Research Program with funding through the National Institute of Health (NIH) and VA Merit awards and clinical research studies. Research studies have included the effect of alcohol on sleep, RLS, Narcolepsy, OSA, Sleep & PTSD, DCR including trials in Shift work, and assessment of effects of OSA treatment modalities on electrographic activity in sleep especially the effect on slow wave sleep.
How to apply
Interested applicants should apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Our program does not have a supplemental application.
Supporting documents are required and should be directed to ERAS
- Current curriculum vitae
- Medical School Transcript
- Personal Statement
- Photo
- Three letters of recommendation – written within the past 12 months (one must be from your program director)
- USMLE or COMLEX must be completed prior to the Match. Submission of USMLE/COMPLEX transcripts is required
- ECFMG Certificate (if applicable)
Fellowship candidates must be BE/BC in Internal Medicine, Neurology, Family Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care, Psychiatry, Otolaryngology, or Anesthesia from an ACGME accredited program. Candidates are selected through the NRMP Match.
