Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Thank you for your interest in the Yale Sleep Medicine Fellowship! As one of the nation’s premier sleep medicine programs, we offer four positions per year for our one-year clinical fellowship training program in Sleep Medicine. As a fellow in our program, you will have multidisciplinary exposure to the spectrum of sleep disorders, drawing on our faculty’s expertise in clinical sleep medicine and sleep disorders research. Our mission is to train the next generation of leaders in sleep medicine.

• Superb clinical training in all aspects of adult and pediatric sleep medicine
• A large faculty comprised of dedicated educators and leaders in sleep research, committed to fellows’ career development
• One-on-one sleep study reading time with attendings
• High-volume sleep laboratories conducting MSLTs, advanced titrations, CO2 monitoring and home sleep testing
• Weekly sleep medicine educational conferences throughout the academic year including national and international guest speakers
• A fun summer “sleep bootcamp” filled with core educational activities in sleep medicine ranging from hands-on sessions with positive-airway pressure (PAP) devices to faculty lectures to interactive sleep scoring sessions with sleep technologists
• Close interaction with supportive faculty in clinics and for mentored scholarly activities (journal clubs, challenging case presentations, sleep grand rounds)
• Inpatient sleep consultation service
• Exposure to the multidisciplinary richness of sleep medicine, through clinics spanning cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i), complex apnea management, restless legs syndrome, sleep medicine dentistry, hypoglossal nerve stimulator (HNS) programs in collaboration with ENT, and weight management specialists
• Protected time and GME stipend to attend the annual APSS/SLEEP meeting
• Rich clinical and scholarly opportunities drawing upon the vast resources of Yale School of Medicine

Fellows rotate through three primary sites: Yale Centers for Sleep Medicine (North Haven), the West Haven VA Connecticut Health Care System (West Haven), and Yale Pediatric Sleep Medicine Center (New Haven). Fellows have 3-5 half-day clinics per week, depending on the site. The education of our fellows is a top priority, and clinics are structured to allow sufficient time for precepting and case-based teaching. Sleep study review sessions are similarly structured to facilitate ample time for interpretation and review of scoring guidelines.

In addition to their own continuity clinics, fellows gain exposure to advanced apnea management, specialized exposure to managing restless legs syndrome through our Restless Legs Center of Excellence, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) with behavioral psychologists at all sites, sleep medicine dentistry, upper airway surgeries, and weight management specialists.

Fellows see a large volume of patients and interpret a significant number of sleep studies throughout the year. They complete fellowship with the experience and confidence to independently practice sleep medicine. Our fellows pursue careers in both academic medicine and clinical practice. Arrangements can be made to increase the exposure to certain areas such as behavioral sleep medicine or pediatric sleep medicine based on each fellow’s primary interest.

Our fellows kick off the academic year with a “sleep bootcamp” that runs throughout the months of July and August to provide core knowledge in sleep medicine. Topics are chosen to provide a foundation upon which they can build for the remainder of the year and include basics of sleep neurobiology, basic and advanced positive airway pressure modalities, insomnia, parasomnias, disorders of hypersomnia, sleep medicine pharmacology, pediatric sleep disordered breathing, behavioral sleep medicine, and sleep-related hypoventilation. Additionally, protected time is allotted during the summer for all fellows to complete and achieve certification in the AASM’s online Interscorer Reliability (ISR) course.

A unique aspect of the fellowship program is our weekly Wednesday afternoon educational conferences, which run September through May. Fellows attend our intermural Yale Sleep Seminar, which draws internationally renowned speakers to lecture on a wide variety of topics in clinical sleep medicine. They then have the opportunity to attend our Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Grand Rounds. Finally, they attend an engaging session specifically for our sleep fellows that includes core didactics, journal clubs, challenging/interesting case presentations, board review sessions and sleep fellow research-in-progress sessions.

Fellows’ education is enhanced by access to the breadth of ongoing live and virtual lectures open to the Yale School of Medicine community.

All fellows complete a research or quality improvement project led by a faculty mentor. Based on their work, they present a research poster at our annual Yale Sleep Research Day in April. Fellows often present at other national meetings as well, including the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) meeting in June. Fellows frequently have opportunities to collaborate with faculty on scholarship projects. We have several well-funded faculty in sleep medicine and T32 training grants are available to selected applicants who wish to pursue an additional year of training.

A core value of Yale Sleep Medicine is to enhance sleep health for all people and to reduce sleep health disparities. We are committed to caring for a diverse population of patients across our sites. We strive to foster an inclusive and respectful training environment for all learners.

The Yale Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program values diversity and strongly encourages applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds. We invite applications from physicians with an M.D., D.O., or equivalent degree who are board eligible or certified in Internal Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Family Medicine, and Anesthesia through an ACGME accredited program. Applicants must possess fluency in written and spoken English. For international medical graduates, a minimum of 2 months of hands-on direct clinical experience in a US or Canadian accredited teaching hospital is required. Fellows must be licensed by the State of Connecticut by the beginning of the fellowship. We participate in the National Residency Matching Program(NRMP). Application materials must be submitted via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and include at least three letters of recommendation (at least one from a Program Director).

The Yale Sleep Medicine Fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Yale Centers for Sleep Medicine is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).