Yi Cai, MD is a Clinical Fellow in Sleep Medicine and Sleep Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. She is driven by the desire to help patients overcome poor or inadequate sleep in her clinical and research career. Her research interests are in health care delivery, specifically in studying medical decision-making in patients with sleep disorders and the use of emerging technologies to improve longitudinal care in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Highlights from her prior work include elucidating patient goals and decisional conflict in patients considering OSA surgery, the use of wearable consumer technology in surgically treated OSA patients, and racial differences in OSA therapy. During her fellowship year, Dr. Cai has given talks at the premier global conferences in otolaryngology and sleep medicine as a podium presenter and panelist. She was also selected by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation to attend the Young Investigators Research Forum.
Prior to fellowship, Dr. Cai completed her medical education at Columbia University. She then did her residency training in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. There, she led quality improvement initiatives as a chief resident, received a Patient Care Fund Award, and served as a Co-Chair of the UCSF Resident and Fellow’s Council.