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Abstract Introduction Sleep is integral to mental health. For example, it is estimated that 40 to 50% of individuals with insomnia have co-occurring mental illness. Despite this, only ~3.31% of current sleep medicine fellows enter from a psychiatry residency, ~4.89% of sleep medicine fellowship alumni are psychiatrists, and 4.25% of sleep faculty members have a psychiatry background. At the present time, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has no curriculum requirement for sleep education within psychiatry residency programs. A past study has shown that less than 40% of psychiatry programs have faculty with training in sleep medicine. If sleep medicine is not prioritized amongst psychiatry residents, psychiatry is at risk of losing representation in the field. Methods From November to December 2023, a voluntary & anonymous online 15-minute, 32 question survey was given to psychiatry residents in the third largest psychiatry residency program in the country. The survey evaluated psychiatry residents' knowledge on guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, as well as attitudes, behaviors, and barriers towards sleep medicine. Results A total of 31 psychiatry residents completed the survey. Results show perceived and objective opportunities to improve sleep education amongst psychiatry residents. Residents demonstrated discomfort in counseling patients regarding topics including sleep related breathing disorders (43%), non-REM parasomnias (53%), and REM behavior disorders (45%). Barriers were identified regarding discussing sleep with patients included limited training (43%), lack of time (37%), and decreased prioritization (17%). Conclusion More can be done to promote sleep medication education for psychiatry residents. While analysis is ongoing, it is the hope that the results of this survey will lead to the development of applicable curricula with expected completion within 12 months. We anticipate identifying specific educational needs to inform the development of a standardized sleep medicine training protocol for residents in hopes of increasing the number of psychiatry residents willing to consider sleep medicine as a possible future career. With research establishing a bidirectional relationship between sleep and psychiatric disorders, it is imperative that curricular improvements are targeted, so that psychiatrists can continue to contribute to the field of sleep medicine. Support (if any) UT Health San Antonio Department of Psychiatry
Shaffer et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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