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Sleep medicine fellowship positions for 2023-2024 are filled. Positions for 2024-2025 will be open for application in August 2023.

Program Description

  • Duration of Fellowship: One year
  • Prerequisite: Completed Neurology, Pediatric, Psychiatry, Otolaryngology, Anesthesia, Medicine and Family Medicine residency, Board eligible
  • Starting Date: July 1
  • Salary Level: Start depending upon which core program from the above prerequisites was completed as determined by the GME office.

We currently offer (2) two one-year positions which include broad training in sleep disorders. Fellows also participate in the Sleep Clinic, work with the neurologist, pulmonologists, psychiatrist, otolaryngologist, dentist, and oral surgeons during their training. The fellowship provides exposure to a wide variety of sleep disorders. 

The Sleep Laboratory of the UNC Hospitals is located within a 13,000 square foot facility. Approximately 4,000 overnight sleep studies and 300 multiple sleep latency studies are performed annually. 

The UNC Department of Neurology includes an active child neurology training program and approximately 20 percent of the sleep studies performed are in the pediatric age group five (5) board-certified sleep specialists staff the Laboratory. The medical directors in the Laboratory include Drs. Heidi Roth and Zheng (Jane) Fan. The UNC Sleep Center is an accredited full-service center and receives referrals from the state and surrounding areas. 

Services include: 

  • new patient evaluation and follow up; 
  • experimental drug trials; 
  • evaluation for differential diagnosis, and treatment. 

The fellowship will provide training in sleep disorders management and sophisticated neurophysiologic diagnostic techniques. Opportunities for additional specialized training in basic and clinical research activities are available if desired. The fellowship is designed to provide the basis for board eligibility and is ACGME accredited.

The UNC Sleep Fellowship faculty provide top notch training and supervision for fellows in sleep medicine with the goal that the training encompass all areas of sleep medicine and that physicians will become leaders in the field.

The Department of Neurology at the University of North Carolina has supported an accredited fellowship in sleep medicine since 1992. During this time frame, the sleep program has grown from a two-bed facility to its current sixteen-bed facility. All of our fellows have passed the American Board of Sleep Medicine.

Facilities

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.

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 and oral review form by each of the faculty. 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 and Psychiatry 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. The rotation in psychiatry is held at our Biofeedback Clinic-Medwell Center, which performs the biofeedback for the insomnia program. Fellows gain experience expanding their psychiatric interviewing skills, learning the application of psychological and neuropsychological tests, and exploring greater detail of biofeedback and other relaxation techniques.

Didactics

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. Fellows are also expected to attend the weekly clinical neurophysiology lecture series and the orientation lecture series on topics such as physician impairment and fatigue, medical ethics, professionalism and legal issues.

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.

Research and Teaching

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.

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)

Please contact us if you have any questions:

Program Director: Nathan Walker, MD

Associate Program Director: Katelyn Bricker, MD

Program Coordinator: Ashley Myles
email
UNC Department of Neurology CB#7025
170 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

2024 – 2025 Fellowship

  • Friday, August 16, 2024
  • Friday, August 30, 2024
  • Thursday, September 12, 2024
  • Thursday, September 19, 2024

Interviews are conducted via Zoom

  • 9:00 –9:30 a.m.:   Introduction Zoom meeting with Program Director, Dr. Nathan Walker
  • 9:40 – 10:40 a.m.:   Zoom Interviews – 20-minute intervals
    Drs; Nathan Walker, Jane Fan, Bradley Vaughn, Katelyn and Heidi Roth
  • 10:45 – 11:00 p.m.:   Q&A with current Fellows Drs: Jasmin Singh, and Geoffrey Glidewell
  • 11:00 – 11:15 a.m.:   Wrap up

2023

Naho Hattori, MD
Guam Regional Hospital

Zhixing “Steven” Yao, MD
T.J. Regional Health in Glasgow KY


2022

Katelyn Bricker, MD
Assistant Professor – Sleep Medicine, and Child Neurology

Shakeel Tabish, MD
Neurologist – Neurology, Cleveland Clinic


2021

Hassan Pervaiz, MBBS
Residency: Psychiatry, University of North Dakota

Pallav “Kumar” Halani, MD
Residency: Pediatric Pulmonology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


2020

Nathan Walker, MD
Residency: Neurology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Yolanda Yu, DO
Family Medicine Residency: St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, Far Rockaway, NY
Pediatric Residency: Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, Baton Rouge, LA
Fellowships: Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC


2019

Joel Erickson, MD
Residency: University of North Dakota
Current Position: Staff Neurologist specializing in Sleep Medicine, Fargo, ND

Ethan Yun, DO
Residency: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Current Position: Staff Neurologist specializing in Sleep Medicine, Wake Forest, NC


2018

Kirsten Reinecke,  MD
Residency: Pediatrics, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
Current position: Staff Pediatrics Physician with specialization in Sleep Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, Clackamas, OR

Laura Dosier, MD
Residency: Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX
Current position: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC


2017

Travis Erwin, DO
Residency: Family Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Science
Current position: Staff Family Medicine Physician with specialization in Sleep Medicine, private practice, Helena, AR

Kunal Kumar, MD
Residency: Adult Neurology, Hospital Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Current position: Staff Neurologist, Presbyterian Rust Medical Center, Rio Rancho, NM


2016

Khaldoon J Ali Al‐Moosawi, MD, MPH
Residency: Family Medicine, Atlanta Medical Center, Atlanta, GA
Current position: Staff Family Medicine Physician with specialization in Sleep Medicine, Elbert Memorial Hospital,  Suwanee, GA

Sandeep Raghow, MD
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine, Memphis, TN
Current position: Staff Internal Medicine Physician with specialization in Sleep Medicine, private practice, NH


2015

Jan Fan, MD
Residency: Pediatrics Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Current position: Professor of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Justin Paulson
Residency: Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School
Current Position: Pediatrics Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, ECU Physicians Vidant Health, Greenville, NC


2014

Sean Rotolo, MD
Residency: Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, Loudon Medical Group, Arlington, Virginia

Current Fellows 2023-2024

 Jasmin Singh, MD   Jasmin Singh, MD

Residency – McLeod Regional Medical Center

   
Geoffrey Glidewell, MD   Geoffrey Glidewell, MD

Residency – University of North Dakota

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