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Pulmonary/Critical Care

ACGME Sleep Fellowship

Clinical Training

All fellows in the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program complete 12 months of clinical training based at the University of Chicago Medical Center, a tertiary care referral hospital serving the south side of Chicago and northwest Indiana. Clinical activities include:

  • Adult and pediatric sleep disorders clinics
  • Adult interdisciplinary neuromuscular disorders respiratory failure clinic
  • Adult and pediatric behavioral sleep medicine
  • Adult CPAP management clinic
  • Inpatient sleep medicine consultation service
  • Adult and pediatric sleep study interpretation
  • Portable monitoring sleep study interpretation
  • MSLT/ MWT/ actigraphy/ sleep log interpretation

Each week the fellows attend two to four half-day clinics, one of which is the fellow’s continuity clinic. Fellows assume primary responsibility for managing patients and see them in collaboration with a dedicated attending physician. Ample time is provided to review findings and to discuss patient care issues. Additional time is used for directed teaching of clinical topics important to outpatient sleep medicine. Based on each fellow’s primary interest, arrangements can be made to increase the exposure to pediatric sleep medicine, neuromuscular disorders or respiratory failure clinics.

 

Adult and Pediatric Record Interpretation

Four half-day sessions are dedicated to interpretation of polysomnograms and home sleep testing under the direct supervision of a faculty member. Additionally, during these sessions the fellows learn to assess all types of primary data that contribute to the accurate diagnosis of sleep disorders such as MSLT’s, MWT’s, history, sleep logs, actigraphy, and pulmonary function testing. Reading sessions may also include fellows in pulmonary and critical care, residents in neurology or pediatrics, and medical students. The clinical sleep laboratory is active every day of the week and generates approximately 2,500 polysomnograms per year, studies are also conducted in the pediatric intensive care unit and portable monitors in inpatients.

 

Additional Resources

Fellows participate in the evaluation of patients referred for surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and attend drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) procedures performed by ENT. There is also close collaboration with plastics surgery and orthodontics for patients with craniofacial abnormalities or requiring maxillo-mandibular advancement. Sleep dentistry and weight management specialists also contribute to lectures and education of the fellows.