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.
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 2500 Polysomnographic sleep studies (PSGs) and over 2000 Home Sleep Apnea Tests (HSATs) every year.
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, and others.
Faculty:
The program has 7 adult and 2 pediatric sleep medicine faculty, as well as several research faculty.
In addition to the regular Sleep Medicine faculty, adjunct faculty include attending faculty from a broad range of specialties including" Pulmonary Medicine, ENT, Rheumatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and others.
Current Fellowship Program Structure:
This is a one-year Sleep Medicine fellowship program. The program accepts 2 fellows each year and involves training at 2 sites, The MU Sleep Disorders Center and the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital.
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.
The fellowship begins with a program boot camp, training in EMR, introductory sessions on normal sleep, on sleep evaluation, and interpreting sleep studies. Separate on-site training takes place in each facility (MU and VA). Each fellow rotates through both training sites for a total of 6 months each.
- MU Rotation: During the MU component of the sleep medicine fellowship, 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.
- VA Rotation: During their time at the VA, the sleep medicine fellows review sleep studies every morning, Monday through Friday. Also during this rotation fellows will have afternoon clinics on Mondays and Wednesdays for adult sleep patients, and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for pediatric sleep patients. There is also a pulmonary sleep medicine clinic on the first Friday of each month.
There are weekly Sleep Medicine grand rounds/journal club on Wednesdays. 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.
- Optional rotations: Fellows have the opportunity to rotate in ENT and Psychology, where they can directly observe CBT-I.
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. Some of the current studies being carried out include the effect of alcohol on sleep, RLS, Narcolepsy, OSA, Sleep & PTSD, 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.
