Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE

“It would be great if we could broaden exposure not only of the neuroanatomy and the underlying physiology that underlies normal, healthy sleep and disordered sleep, but really increase the awareness and understanding of clinical sleep disorders as well. [In doing so], we can, again, better assess and evaluate patients who have sleep related concerns and then initiate treatment when we do diagnose and confirm sleep disorders in our patients of all ages.”

Sleep medicine education was evaluated in a recently published study that enrolled 21 health professions trainees in a 2-day boot camp. The study cohort included 14 sleep medicine fellows who were about to enter their fellowship, with investigators concluding that baseline knowledge of sleep medicine is higher than originally anticipated and the boot camp aided in a statistically significant improvement in both the Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education Survey (2.9 points [±2.1];

= .004) and Dartmouth Sleep Knowledge and Attitude Survey (2.5 points [± 3.0];

Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE, clinical associate professor of neurology; and director, Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program, University of Michigan, spoke with 

® on key findings from the study, while also addressing the need to continue sleep medicine education for trainees. According to Shelgikar, sleep medicine is an interdisciplinary field, and the 2-day course assisted in building awareness and understanding. She further noted that other programs could incorporate similar programs, particularly with the advent of virtual learning and telemedicine opening new avenues for resource sharing.

Wappel SR, Scharf SM, Cohen L, et al. Improving sleep medicine education among health professions trainees. 

. 2021;17(12):2461-2466. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9456 

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The clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan spoke on the importance of sleep medicine education for trainees, as well as areas that could be improved. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

The Importance of Sleep Medicine Education: Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE

“Sleep medicine education is important for anyone in any health profession because our patients with sleep disorders see our colleagues throughout their journey in health care. It’s really important that people at different points in our health care system—our colleagues, dentistry, nursing, medicine—that everyone has a recognition and awareness of sleep disorders so that we can best help our mutual patients when they present with sleep related concerns.”

A recent study enrolled 21 health professions trainees, 14 of whom were sleep medicine fellows, in a 2-day introduction course to sleep medicine, asking participants to complete 2 validated sleep knowledge questionnaires—The Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education and The Dartmouth Sleep Knowledge and Attitude Survey—at the conclusion of the course. Investigators found that, contrary to previously reported data, baseline sleep medicine knowledge is higher amongst this population, and the boot camp helped to improve knowledge and interest in sleep medicine in this specific group of trainees. 

To better understand study findings and motivations, as well as the importance of sleep medicine education, we sat down with Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE, clinical associate professor of neurology; and director, Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program, University of Michigan. In conversation with 

®, Shelgikar noted that, at the conclusion of the study, investigators identified a statistically significant difference in the assessments of sleep knowledge in the medical education survey when compared with baseline. She further commented on the importance of sleep medicine education for all trainees to best assist patients with sleep-related concerns. 

REFERENCE
Wappel SR, Scharf SM, Cohen L, et al. Improving sleep medicine education among health professions trainees. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17(12):2461-2466. doi:10.5664/jcsm.9456 

The clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan outlined a recent study that assessed the effectiveness of an educational sleep medicine “boot camp.” [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE

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The Importance of Sleep Medicine Education: Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE

Discussing Sleep Medicine Education for Health Professional Trainees: Anita Shelgikar, MD, MHPE

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