Sleep Medicine Fellowship Training Program

Program Director: John Herman, Ph.D.

The sleep medicine fellowship introduces the learner to a unique, complex and challenging field of medicine. It emphasizes the interface between medical disorders and behavior rarely addressed by the health care community. Fellows have the opportunity to participate in the clinical activities of the comprehensive sleep medicine service in both adult and pediatrics.  There is an overall focus on sleep as a complex psychiatric, behavioral and neurophysiological phenomenon, not isolating sleep and breathing, sleep and behavior, or sleep and neurological disorders. Emphasis is placed on observation and inquiry into the sleep-related behavior and investigation into unknown and misunderstood aspects of normal and pathological sleep.

During the fellowship year, the fellow will have the opportunity to explore a self-selected area of clinical or basic research in which one or more of the program's faculty are expert. Through interactions primarily with that faculty member and by writing a review manuscript suitable for publication, the fellow will acquire sufficient expertise to begin exploring further options in research. It is hoped that graduates of the fellowship program would be interested in careers that combined clinical medicine, teaching, and research.

There are three training sites at which the sleep medicine fellow would be located: the Sleep Disorders Centers at Children's Medical Center, that at the VA Medical Center of Dallas, both of which are affiliated with UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and Sleep Medicine Associates of Texas. Each center is directed by a diplomate of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. UT Southwestern Medical Center encompasses a number of individuals involved in basic and clinical sleep research and sleep medicine. Various individuals at UT Southwestern Medical Center have federal funding in areas including the genetics of sleep, basic sleep mechanisms, and clinical sleep medicine in adults and children. Two of the sleep disorders centers in this program are accredited by the AASM. Six of its faculty are boarded in sleep medicine, and eight have current federal funding. Most of the faculty listed in this application have devoted their professional careers to sleep research or sleep medicine.

The fellowship program in sleep medicine in the Department of Psychiatry fulfills the requirements for board eligibility for AASM. At present, sleep medicine fellowships accredited by the AASM are being considered for inclusion in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The common eligibility requirements for ACGME fellowships are adhered to by the Department's program. Applicants for this program must have completed an accredited residency program in psychiatry, neurology, pulmonary medicine, or other medical subspecialty to be reviewed on an individual basis. PhDs also will be considered on an individual basis.

The fellowship application can be found at this link: Sleep Fellowship Application

Items to be included in your application packet:

Application
Photo
CV
Personal Statement
Official medical school transcript
Copy of Medical School Diploma
Copy of Residency Training Program Diploma
Copies of USMLE Step I, II, III Score Reports
ECFMG Certificate
Visa
3 Letters of Recommendation

All Items in the application packet should be sent to:

Shaniquwa Patrick
Fellowship Coordinator
Department of Psychiatry
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75390-9070
(214) 648-7392
shaniquwa.patrick@utsouthwestern.edu

Sleep Medicine Faculty

John Herman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Sleep Disorders Center
Children's Medical Center of Dallas

Philip Becker, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor
President, Sleep Medicine Associates of Texas, P.A.

Gregory Carter, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Neurology
Director of Neurology and Sleep Disorders Center 
Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center