Sleep Medicine Fellowship

Interested applicants can submit applications via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) for the upcoming match with the National Residency Match Program (NRMP).

The following items must be submitted to ERAS in order to schedule an interview:

• Common application form via ERAS
• Curriculum vitae
• Letters of reference (a minimum of three) – One LOR must be from the program director of the residency program in which the applicant most recently served and two letters from members of the medical staff of the hospital affiliated with the sponsoring institution of that residency program.
• Official medical school transcripts
• USMLE transcripts or COMLEX transcripts
• Personal statement
• Photograph (optional, but preferred to track applicants after interviews)
• ECFMG certificate and visa (if applicable)

Requirements

Candidate should be a graduate of an accredited training program in neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, otolaryngology, anesthesia, medicine and family medicine. Candidate must be board eligible.

This is a one year clinical fellowship.

Fellow’s salary is dependent upon which residency program was completed as determined by the GME office.

Clinical Training

Our fellows receive a broad range of teaching and clinical experience in sleep medicine and offers a wide variety of interests from a variety of disciplines. We provide a multidisciplinary approach and our fellows gain experience from not only individuals in the Department of Neurology, but also Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Psychiatry, Pulmonary, Prosthodontics, Oral Maxillary Surgery, and Cardiology. 

Fellows have a graduated experience within the sleep center. Spending the first months learning basic polysomnographgy, identifying normal and recognizing the more obvious polysomnographic abnormalities for both adult and pediatric patients, the fellows also gain adult and pediatric sleep clinical experience. They will learn how to take a sleep history and perform specific aspects of the physical and neurological exam important in the evaluation and management of patients with sleep-related complaints. 

By three months into the fellowship, the fellows are expected to expand their knowledge on pathophysiology of common sleep disorders and apply their understanding of normal sleep physiology to clinical situations. The fellows should feel comfortable in utilizing the technical sleep equipment and are proficient in formulating basic treatment plans for common sleep disorders. 

After six months, they are given a written examination. The fellow meets with the program director on a quarterly basis to review progress and map out the next quarter’s goals. Over the last six months of the residency, the fellow gains experience in several specialty areas within the sleep center. The fellow will spend part of their time with Otolaryngology, Oral Surgery, Dentistry sleep colleagues. These specialty rotations are to enhance the clinical experience, understand the examination and concerns related to each of these disciplines in relationship to the area of sleep. 

The Otolaryngology and Oral Surgery rotation provide experience in examination of the oral airway and understanding the upper airway dynamics as well as the concerns related to surgery. The dental rotation provides the fellows with an experience in oral appliances and dental examination.  

Personal Instruction

We take extreme pride in teaching our fellows to be the best in sleep medicine. Each week, the fellow meets with one of the attendings and systematically covers basic sleep physiology, pharmacology, approach to sleep disorders, and a review of specific sleep disorders, pathophysiology and treatment. In addition, review of basic electronics, polysomnographic and other sleep recording techniques, electroencephalographic, brain imaging, psychological, and pulmonary testing are reviewed. The fellows also are instructed in the basic management, administration, and financing of a sleep disorders center. Fellows are given a reading list to coincide with the review. As the year progresses, the discussions are noted to become more intricate, building upon previously learned knowledge and integrating new research with the intention of identifying, evaluating, managing and developing new questions in understanding sleep and sleep disorders.

Lectures

The sleep fellows have exposure to a variety of conferences and lecture series including a weekly multidisciplinary case conference and journal club. The fellows also are invited to the daily neurology conference series on a variety of clinical and basic science topics. This series includes lectures on neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, neurophysiology, clinical neurology, pain management and neuropsychometrics.  

Each of our fellows is expected to participate in research, quality assurance and teaching projects, and present at a meeting. Fellows incorporate their research into their typical week with no specific research block granted. We believe it is important for our fellows to understand this process and its effects on our understanding of sleep disorders.

Fellows must perform a teaching project during their fellowship year. This project enhances the education of others in sleep medicine. The fellows also gain experience in teaching, especially to medical students, residents, allied health and other fellows throughout the year. The fellows also aid in teaching the sleep technologist and are expected to present at our Sleep Technologist Teaching conference. The faculty advise the fellows on their teaching and presentation skills, and help to improve teaching techniques.

The facilities at the University of North Carolina Sleep center offer one of the best opportunities for learning state-of-the-art care in sleep medicine. Our laboratory has the newest digital polysomnographic equipment available and offers continuous nasal pressure and CO2 monitoring measurements as standard practice along with the 23 other parameters measured. The laboratory facility supports study of neonatal patients, children, adults, and geriatrics in a comfortable and visually pleasing setting. Additionally, the laboratory has a library as well as Internet access and a teaching computer complete with a computer-based learning module for sleep medicine. The laboratory contains a conference room that is capable of projecting polysomnographic data from any of the patient-recording rooms or access from the network of previous studies and web conferencing.