Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Sponsored by the University of Colorado Denver

Beginning July 1, 2025, the University of Colorado Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program will be moving to University of Colorado Hospital at Anschutz Medical Campus. Please click here to access the new fellowship webpage: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/pulmonary/education/sleep-medicine-fellowship(Opens in a new window). ” Note: We are listed in the ACGME under Sleep Medicine as: University of Colorado Program # 5200714103

Why Choose Our Program?
Eligible Candidates
Goals of the Fellowship Program
The Curriculum
Teaching
The Application Process
Faculty
Current and Former Sleep Medicine Fellows

Why Choose Our Program?

We are an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) – accredited program with continuous accreditation since 2008. We have trained over 20 fellows who are now sleep experts across the country. They have successful medical careers practicing in a variety of settings such as academic, private or group practices. Some practice solely sleep medicine while others combine the practice of sleep medicine with their other specialty, such as pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

Our faculty are recognized leaders in the field of sleep medicine. We are dedicated to the education and success of our sleep medicine fellows. We are enthusiastic about our field and want to share that with our trainees. We are open to feedback and to adapting the program to best meet the training needs and requirements of our fellows.

National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. National Jewish health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. University of Colorado Hospital is among the nation's best health care centers. National Jewish Health-University of Colorado Denver is ranked nationally #1 in Adult Pulmonology and Lung Surgery by U.S. News & World Report.

Our program provides comprehensive sleep medicine training with faculty at the Denver VA Medical Center, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado Hospital and National Jewish Health. Fellows rotate with adult and pediatric behavioral sleep medicine specialists, dental sleep medicine specialists, and otolaryngologists. They evaluate and manage the various sleep disorders including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, hypersomnia, insomnia, sleep-related movement disorders, circadian rhythm disorders, and pediatric sleep disorders. At the completion of fellowship, trainees have significant expertise in all these disorders. Fellows also interpret an array of sleep tests including in-lab polysomnography, out of center sleep apnea testing, actigraphy, multiple sleep latency tests, maintenance of wakefulness tests, and PAP titration studies in both the adult and pediatric population.

Eligible Candidates

Residents in our program must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or possess the appropriate documentation to allow the Resident to legally train at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine.

We select highly motivated, dedicated, and enthusiastic individuals interested in being excellent sleep physicians and developing the field.

Goals of the Fellowship Program

The primary objective of this fellowship is to train outstanding sleep medicine physicians. We hope to train physicians who will develop new and additional understanding and contribute knowledge to the field of sleep medicine.

The program is open to physicians who have completed residency training in Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Anesthesiology, or Otolaryngology. Currently, two ACGME accredited positions are available each year.

The Curriculum

The fellowship training is conducted on the campuses of the National Jewish Health, Denver VA Medical Center, The Children's Hospital, and the University of Colorado Denver.

The fellowship program is a one-year clinical training program with numerous opportunities to participate in scholarly projects. Trainees are educated and supervised on polysomnography interpretation and are directly supervised in patient clinics. Fellows easily meet the minimum ACGME requirements for completion of sleep medicine training and are eligible to sit for the boards upon completion of fellowship training, provided they have successfully certified in their primary specialty. To date, our fellows’ first-time board pass rate for the sleep medicine boards is 100%.

Teaching

One-on-one teaching occurs in the clinical setting and with polysomnography interpretation and is supplemented by several formal educational experiences and didactic conferences:

• Journal Club
  Journal Club is a forum for surveying the published literature regarding specific topics relevant to the clinical practice of sleep medicine.
• Denver Sleep Medicine Conference
  This is a weekly conference during where important topics and disorders in sleep medicine are discussed. This is also a forum for case presentations of interesting patients.
• Pediatric Sleep Medicine Boot Camp
  This week long training provides the basics of pediatric sleep medicine including behavioral sleep medicine issues, sleep study interpretations, and highlight clinical issues.
• Case Conference
  A multidisciplinary monthly conference in which interesting or complicated sleep medicine patients are addressed with input from different providers.

The Application Process

• We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and participate in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP)

Program Director and Coordinator information:

Faculty

• Jessica Camacho, M.D., (Program Director, University of Colorado Hospital)
• Norman Friedman, MD (Children's Hospital Colorado)
• Pinar Polat, M.D. (Site Director, Children’s Hospital of Colorado)
• Katherine Green (Site Director, University of Colorado Hospital)
• Teofilo Lee-Chiong, MD (National Jewish Health)
• Devon Smith, PhD (National Jewish Health)
• Sheila C. Tsai, MD (PD, National Jewish Health)
• Carolyn Welsh, MD (Site Director, Denver VA Medical Center)

Current and Former Sleep Medicine Fellows

University of Colorado Sleep Medicine Fellowship Fellows:
 

2024-25                     Alyssa Self, M.D.
2024-25                     Matthew Griffith, M.D.
2023-24                     Taylor Curry, M.D.  
2023-24                     James Metkus, M.D.
2022-23                     Chafen Hart, M.D.
2022-23                     Vaibhav Ramprasad, M.D.
2021-22                     Rachel Quaney, M.D.
2021-22                     Cristina Giles, M.D.
2020-21                     Sarah Rizvi, M.D.
2020-21                     Jessica Camacho, M.D.
2019-20                     Aaron Dunham, M.D.
2019-20                     Courtney Minor, M.D.
2018-19                     Kyana Morton-McCarthy, M.D.
2018-19                     Jose Torres-Garcia, M.D.
2017-18                     Mohan Dutt, M.D.
2017-18                     Pinar Polat, M.D.
2016-17                     April Shepherd, M.D.
2016-17                     Jonathan Hintze, M.D.
2015-16                     Walter Conwell, M.D.
2015-16                     Benjamin Hughes, M.D.
2014-15                     David Ingram, M.D.
2014-15                     Dionne Morgan, M.D.
2013-14                     Michelle Caraballo, M.D.
2013-14                     Kelly Newton, D.O.
2012-13                     Gilbert Seda, M.D.
2012-13                     Stephen Hawkins, M.D.
2011-12                     Robert Bercovitch, M.D.
2011-12                     Keisha Shaheed, D.O.
2010-11                     Casey Burg, M.D.
2010-11                     Manju Pillai, M.D.
2009-10                     Naveen Kanathur, M.D.
2008-09                     Gregory Matwiyoff, M.D.
2008-09                     Eric Huang, M.D.

How to Apply

We select highly motivated, dedicated, and enthusiastic individuals interested in becoming excellent sleep physicians and contributing to the field. This program is open to physicians who have completed residency training in Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Child Neurology, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Anesthesiology, or Otolaryngology. Candidates for our program must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card). Exceptions will be considered for highly competitive J1 and H1B candidates.

Applicants must demonstrate successful completion of USMLE Steps 1, 2, and 3 (or equivalent). Three letters of recommendation are required, including one letter from a program director, division head, or department chair. Applications must include a CV and personal statement.

We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and participate in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). We are listed in the ACGME under Sleep Medicine as: University of Colorado Program # 5200714103. Interviews will be held virtually for all invited candidates.

For information regarding the application and interview process, please contact our Program Coordinator, Kelly Rico, at Kelly.rico@cuanschutz.edu or 303-724-6043.