0967 Perception of Sleep Disorders and Attitude towards Sleep Medicine Specialty in Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Pediatrics & Neurology Residents in Indiana University Residency Programs. (12th April 2019) - Neupane, Pritam
Abstract: Introduction: The US Medical residents' perception of sleep medicine specialty, their confidence in treating sleep disorders and their interest in pursuing sleep fellowship is largely unknown. Insight into this could help improve policies that govern educational curriculum for residents in training and could help generate more interest in sleep medicine as envisioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Methods: An online survey with nine questions was conducted in a single academic center targeting residents of five medical specialties. Descriptive analysis was done for reporting frequency distribution and Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables. Results: Response rate of the survey was (42.68%). Most residents (91.97%) confirmed that the burden of sleep medicine is high in the general public and the knowledge of sleep medicine is important in their practice (90.51%). 32.12% stated that they do not get adequate training in sleep disorders in their residencies. Majority felt that sleep specialists are needed to treat sleep disorders (55.15%) and sleep fellowship is important to be proficient in treating sleep disorders (53.28%) but only 8.03% had interest in pursuing sleep fellowship. In the bivariate analysis, years of training was significantly associated with perception regarding importance of proficiency in sleep disorders for their practice (P=0.046, earlier trainees stating more importance), receiving adequate training in sleep disorders (P=0.024, earlier trainees stating more disagreement). The associations between years of training and interest in fellowship (P=0.067 with less interest later in residency) and comfort level for treating other sleep disorders (P=0.051 with earlier trainees showing less comfort) were trending towards significance. Conclusion: The mismatch of the perception of the burden of the disease and the need for proficiency in this field for their practice which comes from completing a sleep fellowship, with no desire to pursue this specialty suggests areas for improvement namely in making sleep fellowship more attractive and in exposure of trainees to adequate sleep literature thereby helping them become more proficient in this field. Support (If Any)