USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology

Sleep Medicine

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Fellowship Programs

There are two fellowship opportunities in sleep medicine and surgery available for trainees from US and Canadian otolaryngology – head and neck surgery programs. A one-year non-accredited Sleep Surgery fellowship offers intensive training in adult sleep surgery. Los Angeles General Medical Center, Keck Hospital of USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) support two positions in an ACGME-accredited fellowship in sleep medicine, offering comprehensive training in adult and pediatric sleep medicine.

Sleep Surgery Fellowship

This fellowship is designed to train academic sleep surgeons through a combination of clinical care, research training, and formal didactic lectures. The fellowship experience provides exposure to a broad spectrum of adult sleep surgery evaluation and procedure techniques. The Fellow will be appointed as an Instructor in the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. Fellows interested in clinical or translational research may enroll in a research training course offered through the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. Sleep surgery fellowships are not accredited by the ACGME. This one-year fellowship will include training in sleep medicine, but fellows will not be eligible for certification in sleep medicine from the American Board of Medical Specialties. There are no specific application deadlines, as applications will be considered on a rolling basis. For more information, please contact Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH at Eric.Kezirian@med.usc.edu.

ACGME-accredited Sleep Medicine Fellowship

Sleep medicine is a highly integrative, multi-disciplinary area of study, which draws on the expertise of specialists in pulmonology, neurology, otolaryngology, psychiatry, general medicine and pediatrics. Epidemiologic and clinical research has increasingly implicated sleep and sleep disorders in a wide array of long term health outcomes, and training in sleep medicine is highly relevant to a variety of medical and surgical settings. In collaboration with CHLA, Keck Hospital of USC is proud to offer a truly distinctive, one-year ACGME-accredited sleep medicine fellowship. Our program, which accepts two applicants per year through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), encompasses the full breadth of training in both adult and pediatric sleep medicine. Otolaryngologists who are sleep medicine fellows can tailor their experience to expand the training in advanced sleep surgery.

Overview

At the completion of this fellowship, our graduates will have acquired competency to practice in a variety of adult and child sleep medicine settings. In addition, our position at the forefront of biomedicine and technology allows our trainees to gain exposure to a wide range of novel, cutting edge medical and surgical modalities for the treatment of complex sleep disorders. Keck Hospital of USC was the first site in Southern California to offer the Inspire® hypoglossal nerve stimulation device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We also participated in the pivotal Phase III Respicardia® trial of the remede® transvenous pacing system for the treatment of central sleep apnea. Our faculty are actively involved in a variety of clinical research projects, including studies of surgical evaluation techniques and treatment outcomes. Ongoing collaborations with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering are using advanced imaging techniques to elucidate mechanisms of airway collapse in sleep apnea and examining modulation of sleep with transcranial magnet stimulation in patients suffering chronic pelvic pain. We are also participating in a number of U.S. Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health-funded investigations in post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep associations with substance abuse in patients with severe mental illness.

Our sleep medicine faculty is highly collaborative and distinctively collegial. Sleep fellows attend two half-day continuity clinics per week — one adult and one pediatric — in addition to weekly didactic sessions, supervised polysomnography review periods and sleep grand rounds. Fellows also rotate in otolaryngology, neurophysiology, and psychiatry outpatient clinics and have the opportunity to observe advanced sleep surgery procedures and participate in both clinical and research sleep data acquisition in our state of the art, four-bed hospital-based sleep laboratories at each institution. Inpatient sleep consultations are performed both at Keck Hospital of USC and CHLA. Fellows interested in clinical or translational research may enroll in a research training course offered through the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.

Sleep medicine resides in the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine in the Department of Medicine, under the leadership of Zea Borok, MD, at the Keck School and the division of pediatric pulmonology, under the direction of Sally L. Davidson Ward, MD at CHLA. Our combined dedication to excellence in patient care, teaching and research is expressed in every phase of the fellowship training program. Guest lectures and seminars with nationally and internationally known physicians and scientists are held frequently. Our sleep medicine fellows have unlimited access to the clinical, educational and research resources of two great institutions: The Keck School of Medicine and CHLA.

Facilities

The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) is located on the 79-acre Health Sciences Campus (HSC), three miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles and seven miles from the USC University Park Campus. HSC is a focal point for students, patients and scientists from around the world. Both its clinical and research infrastructure is in the process of dramatic expansion and growth. The many clinical, classroom and laboratory resources of the campus combine to form a dynamic, interactive environment for learning, collaboration and scientific discovery.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit hospital for pediatric care. CHLA has been named the best children’s hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence, with selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. CHLA is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. CHLA is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants for the sleep medicine fellowship must have completed an ACGME-accredited core program in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, otolaryngology, pediatrics or psychiatry. In addition, applicants must meet all requirements for eligibility set by the Los Angeles General Medical Center Office of Graduate Medical Education. Every fellow must have a California medical license by the beginning of the fellowship training program. Licensure in the State of California for international medical graduates can be especially time-consuming. If assistance is needed, candidates are advised to contact personally the Division of Licensing, Medical Board of California, 1426 Howe Avenue, Sacramento, California 95825-3236, (916) 920-6411.

Applicants to the fellowship must apply through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Contact

Program Director
Vincent Grbach, MD

Associate Program Directors
Raj Dasgupta, MD (Keck)
Salman Raza Khan, MD (CHLA)

Division Chiefs
Zea Borok, MD (Keck)
Sally L. Davidson Ward, MD (CHLA)

Program Coordinators
Minerva Castillo
Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Keck School of Medicine of USC
(323) 226-7923
pccm@usc.edu

Cynthia “Cindy” Leyva
Division of Pediatric Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
(323) 361-6639
cleyva@chla.usc.edu