Sleep Medicine Fellowship

We are affiliated with Sidney Kimmel Medical College (formerly Jefferson Medical College), one of the oldest and largest medical colleges in the country – an institution rich with medical history. The first sleep medicine program established in Philadelphia, the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center, has hosted fellows since the mid-1980s. In 2005, ours was among the first sleep medicine programs in the United States to earn full accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Our primary goal is to develop independent practitioners of sleep medicine. We are committed to academic excellence and combine superior patient care, strong teaching, and quality research to achieve this. We provide you with an environment that will encourage intellectual curiosity and stimulate your professional and personal development.

Our faculty members are grounded in multiple disciplines, including sleep medicine, otolaryngology, pulmonary medicine, psychiatry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, neurology, psychology, pediatrics, cardiology, gastroenterology, nutritional health, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and weight management. This diversity in the professional backgrounds of our faculty reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum. We provide a comprehensive curriculum that is suitable for physicians from all host disciplines. Fellows experience patients and perform testing in a wide range of diagnostic entities, utilize and learn the gamut of therapeutic options in sleep medicine, and develop competency in the evaluation and management of inpatient and outpatient sleep disorders in children and adults. Our fellows have sought careers in both academic and clinical environments.

Our team of core faculty members are committed to the fellowship, which allows our program provides unusually strong leadership and direction.  Core faculty members include Ritu Grewal, MD (Program Director), Zhikui Wei, MD (Associate Program Director), Dimitri Markov, MD, Zhanna Fast, MD, and  Karl Doghramji, MD (Faculty Emeritus). Each of us is dedicated to a specific aspect of the training program, and we are constantly looking to make improvements to the program.

At the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center, fellows diagnose and manage the gamut of sleep disorders, including the insomnias, narcolepsy and other disorders of excessive somnolence, sleep-related breathing disorders, parasomnias, various medical and psychiatric sleep disorders, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. They also receive training and supervision in various modalities of treatment, including pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and sleep hygiene education, positive airway pressure management techniques, oral appliances, surgery, circadian realignment, and phototherapy, among others. Fellows are identified as the primary physicians for their patients during the initial encounter and for all subsequent care for that particular patient. Therefore, continuity of care is preserved.

Fellows acquire a diversity of skills during rotations, which take place during the course of four hours per week. Fellows rotate in pulmonary outpatient clinic and inpatient consultations, neurology (review and interpretation of EEGs), otolaryngology outpatient clinic and inpatient operating room, oral and maxillofacial surgery outpatient clinic and inpatient operating room, and pediatric sleep medicine clinic.

These include core lectures, case conferences, multidisciplinary conferences, journal clubs, polysomnographic record reading and interpretation conferences, grand rounds, and bedside rounds, among others. Fellows are integrally involved in the teaching of medical students and residents. Fellows conduct their own research and present their research findings at local and national meetings.

We are located in Center City Philadelphia, in the heart of the downtown area. It is a safe area in which to live, work, and play. For the sports fan, we have a number of major professional sports teams – the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers, to name a few. Philadelphia is home to the Wachovia Center, the chief venue for concerts and other major entertainment events. Our city is also home to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music, where patrons of the arts can see live theatrical performances. Last but not least, we are within two hours of New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and the New Jersey shore communities. Go to visitphilly.com to explore what Philadelphia has to offer to you.