Division of  Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Clinical Training

The fellowship is structured as a 12-month longitudinal experience that combines comprehensive core training with opportunities for individualized specialization. Core general sleep rotations are based at the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) University Drive Campus and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Comprehensive Lung Center (CLC). Specialty training in Sleep Pediatrics takes place at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP), while ENT rotations are held at UPMC Mercy Hospital.
Across these sites, fellows gain broad exposure to the full spectrum of Sleep Medicine, including sleep-disordered breathing, insomnia, hypersomnia, parasomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-related movement disorders, and surgical approaches to sleep disorders. Training also emphasizes the interactions between sleep disorders and coexisting medical or psychiatric conditions. Clinical experiences are complemented by supervised interpretation of adult and pediatric sleep studies with faculty, instruction in the technical aspects and scoring of studies, inpatient sleep consultation at VAPHS, and participation in sleep-related research.
Fellows are encouraged to tailor their training through elective rotations in behavioral sleep medicine (supported by strong collaborations with Psychiatry and Psychology), sleep surgery (UPMC is a leading study site for upper-airway stimulation trials through the STAR Trial Group), obesity medicine, and sleep dentistry. Elective opportunities are available at affiliate sites including UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), UPMC Mercy, and community-based dental practices.
The duration of both core and elective rotations is flexible and can be customized to align with each fellow’s goals. Inpatient consults occur as needed Monday through Friday at VAPHS. Research and elective blocks are designed for self-directed learning, scholarly projects—including a required quality improvement project—preparation of presentations, and additional sleep study interpretation. Fellows are expected to complete at least one scholarly project and submit an abstract to the annual SLEEP meeting.

For more information, please contact: 

Brittany Manning
Fellowship Coordinator
412-648-3098
manningb2@upmc.edu

Training Sites

Core Sites

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)

Fellow continuity clinics are based at the Comprehensive Lung Center (CLC) in Oakland, with access to a four-bed sleep laboratory at UPMC Montefiore that can flex to six beds, as well as additional four-bed sleep laboratories at UPMC Mercy and UPMC Monroeville. Remote study interpretation is available across sites. Combined, these laboratories perform 2,500 lab-based studies annually, including 80 daytime studies, and 2,000 home sleep apnea tests. Fellows also benefit from exposure to specialized clinics in neuromuscular disease, restless legs syndrome, weight management, and clinical psychology.

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS)

At the VAPHS University Drive Campus, fellows participate in continuity clinics and the on-site sleep laboratory. The campus also hosts an active inpatient consult service and inpatient studies, supported by a six-bed sleep laboratory that conducts approximately 1,000 lab-based studies each year, including 50 daytime studies. In addition, fellows gain experience with 1,500 home sleep apnea tests annually, along with 1,700 home sleep apnea tests interpreted remotely for outlying spoke VA medical centers. Multidisciplinary opportunities include participation in an ALS clinic.

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP)

At UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and its satellites, fellows engage in continuity clinics and work closely within an eight-bed sleep laboratory. This site also provides opportunities for remote study interpretation and performs approximately 1,800 lab-based studies annually, with 20 to 50 daytime studies included. Two behavioral sleep psychologists support the program through an active clinical psychology clinic, and fellows gain valuable experience with strategies to improve PAP adherence in children and adolescents.

Affiliate Sites

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH)

At UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, fellows collaborate with sleep psychiatrists to care for patients with behaviorally complex sleep disorders, while also receiving formal instruction in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI) and Brief Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (BBTI).

UPMC Mercy

UPMC Mercy serves as the primary site for working with a sleep surgeon to treat patients who have failed conventional OSA therapy, and it is the main location for upper-airway stimulation evaluation, with opportunities to observe drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) and upper-airway stimulation (UAS) implantation and titration. 

Sleep Apnea Dental Center of Pittsburgh

At the Sleep Apnea Dental Center of Pittsburgh, fellows provide care alongside an expert sleep dentist, gaining experience with a range of oral appliance therapies.