FRESNO – An estimated 50 to 70 million adults in the United States have a sleep or wakefulness disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program is pleased to announce a new fellowship in sleep medicine to train physicians in this important sub-specialty. This program will offer increased access in the San Joaquin Valley to fellowship trained, board-certified sleep physicians, with expertise in a wide array of sleep disorders. As the impact of sleep crosses many different fields of medicine, this fellowship offers new opportunities for multidisciplinary research that will benefit local patients.
Fellowships offer specific training in an area of expertise beyond residency and generally last one to two years. The addition of this new program brings the total number of sub-specialty fellowship programs at UCSF Fresno to 17, offering training for approximately 50 medical fellows each year.
“Sleep is as vital to overall health as diet and exercise. Yet, currently, there are only about 7,500 board-certified sleep physicians in the United States.” said Lynn Keenan, MD, director of the UCSF Fresno Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program. “Every year, more research is coming out showing the impact of sleep on heart disease, strokes, cancer, diabetes, dementia and pregnancy, as well as overall mortality. Insomnia causes an estimated $63.2 billion in annual losses in work performance. Many people in the San Joaquin Valley are undiagnosed or untreated and the overall health of the region will improve if we can help more people get a good night's sleep.”
“We are extremely pleased to offer this new program and we are particularly happy to announce it this year as we celebrate our 40th anniversary of growing Valley physicians,” said Michael W. Peterson, MD, interim associate dean at UCSF Fresno and Vice-Chair of Medicine at UCSF. “Each fellowship that we add enables physicians to pursue advanced training at UCSF Fresno rather than go elsewhere, and in turn, increases the likelihood they will stay permanently to practice. Up to 40 percent of the physicians trained at UCSF Fresno already stay to provide care for Valley community members.”
The UCSF Fresno Sleep Medicine Fellowship is a one-year program and is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The program is aimed at providing fellows with knowledge and expertise in the clinical care of a wide array of sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, circadian rhythm disorders and insomnia, as well as becoming proficient in the interpretation of sleep studies. Training takes place at University North Medical Specialty Center, Deran Koligian Ambulatory Care Center at Community Regional Medical Center and Valley Children’s Hospital. UCSF Fresno Medical Education/ Research Program 155 N. Fresno St. Fresno, CA 93701 Tel: 559-499-6400
One fellow was selected for the 2014-2015 academic year. Two additional fellows have been accepted for the coming 2015-2016 academic year.
Fellows apply to and are selected through the Electronic Residency Application Service. Applicants must be graduates of and have three years of residency training from an accredited program in internal medicine; family medicine; psychiatry; ear, nose and throat; or pediatrics. Many sleep fellows also have completed fellowships in pulmonary/critical care. Applications to the program must be submitted by Aug. 31, 2015.
The fellowship is self-funded by current board-certified sleep physicians at UCSF Fresno because of the great community need for additional sub-specialists in this area of medicine.
For more information, call (559) 459-5713 or email [email protected]
