Clinical training

During the 12 months of clinical training in the Sleep Medicine Fellowship, you are under the direct supervision of Mayo Clinic physician consultants with primary specialties of pulmonary medicine, adult and pediatric neurology, psychiatry, and primary care. You work up, investigate, and treat patients with a wide spectrum of sleep disorders, both in the clinic and hospital. Technical training in conducting polysomnography and other sleep tests is provided.

Rotations

Rotations through general psychiatry, clinical neurophysiology, neurology, dentistry, otolaryngology, maxillofacial surgery, cardiology, and pulmonary medicine are arranged as needed to complement your prior training.

Call frequency

The fellowship call schedule is different for each rotation. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Sleep fellows do not generally take overnight or weekend call.

Research training

Clinical research is an important part of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship, and as a fellow, you are expected to participate in at least one research project. Elective time may be available for participation in a new or ongoing research project under the guidance and mentorship of a faculty advisor.

Mentored research opportunities are available in areas including sleep disordered breathing, management of insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, remote monitoring/wearable technology, innovative projects leveraging artificial intelligence, and health disparities. Trainees are also encouraged to develop their own project ideas.

Didactic training

Record review sessions, clinical and research conferences, a didactic lecture series, and journal clubs are all integral parts of the program.

Teaching opportunities

Opportunities are available for teaching rotating residents and medical students.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the Sleep Medicine Fellowship. You are evaluated formally by supervising faculty members after each clinical rotation and meet with the program director to review these evaluations.

Evaluation in the course of the year includes a written test and an objective structured clinical examination. In addition, you regularly evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met.