The Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, prepares physicians for fulfilling and productive careers in sleep medicine, a growing and exciting field of multidisciplinary medical practice. Fellows gain expertise in the full spectrum of sleep disorders and develop skills that support clinical practice, academic medicine, education, and program leadership.

The fellowship is offered through the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine, one of the largest and most distinguished programs in the United States. Twenty-seven board-certified sleep medicine specialists provide multidisciplinary training across pulmonary, neurology, psychiatry, family practice, otolaryngologic, and pediatric perspectives. Graduates enter diverse career paths and contribute to advancing the science and practice of sleep medicine worldwide.

Your training experience

At Mayo Clinic’s campus in Rochester, Minnesota, you train within the Center for Sleep Medicine, which receives more than 6,000 adult and 1,300 pediatric referrals each year from within the Mayo Clinic practice and from regional, national, and international sources. The center includes an outpatient clinic and laboratory facility offering 24 state-of-the-art, video-EEG-capable polysomnography beds. The fellowship also includes supervised consultation on hospitalized patients, offering valuable exposure to complex and interdisciplinary aspects of sleep medicine.

During your fellowship, you evaluate a full range of adult and pediatric sleep disorders, including sleep-related breathing disorders, insomnia, hypersomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, and parasomnias. The center’s fully staffed Pediatric Sleep Medicine section provides a strong foundation for caring for children and adolescents with sleep conditions.  Fellows also develop skills for using and interpreting all sleep diagnostic tools, including polysomnography, home sleep tests, oximetry, multiple sleep latency tests, maintenance of wakefulness tests, and actigraphy.

In addition to robust continuity clinics focused on managing common sleep-disordered breathing conditions, the Center for Sleep Medicine offers a dedicated Neurology Sleep Clinic that deepens fellows’ expertise in longitudinal management of complex neurologic sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, parasomnias, and restless legs syndrome. Furthermore, fellows will gain advanced experience in the NIV Sleep Clinic, which enhances clinical skills in the comprehensive management of hypoventilation syndromes caused by a variety of underlying conditions. 

The fellowship also supports mentored scholarly work. Under faculty guidance, you learn to initiate, design, conduct, and present an original clinical research project. Many fellows publish or present their findings nationally, including at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, for which attendance is fully supported.

Our fellowship provides a comprehensive and adaptable training experience that blends clinical care, research, quality improvement, and leadership preparation. Fellows participate in a group QI project and complete a thorough curriculum in quality improvement, gaining practical skills for leading future initiatives. Additionally, career development, presentation skills, and academic communication are emphasized throughout the fellowship to prepare you for leadership in clinical, research, and educational roles.

Accreditation

The fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Certification

This fellowship provides the training necessary to qualify to take the Sleep Medicine Specialty Examination offered by various member boards of the American Board of Sleep Medicine, including the:

• American Board of Anesthesiology
• American Board of Family Medicine
• American Board of Internal Medicine
• American Board of Pediatrics
• American Board of Otolaryngology
• American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Program history

The Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic was established in the early 1990s and has since graduated more than 100 physicians. The program continues to welcome up to four fellows each year within a collaborative, multidisciplinary practice environment. Fellows join a collegial community with lasting ties to past graduates, forming a strong professional network across clinical practice, research, education, and leadership. The program’s enduring strength lies in the breadth of patient experience, the integration of pediatric and adult training, and a sustained commitment to advancing the field of sleep medicine.

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