More Psychiatrists are going into Sleep Medicine

Psychiatric News reports that psychiatrists are becoming increasingly attracted to a career in sleep medicine:
A woman hospitalized for treatment of her mood disorder snored so loudly that other patients complained. A sleep study showed she had severe obstructive sleep apnea.
After using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device that delivers air via a mask worn in sleep, she felt more focused and alert. "Her mood improved, and we were able to make greater inroads into her psychiatric problems," related William Clemons, M.D., then a resident in psychiatry at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
The contribution of a previously unrecognized sleep disorder to the woman's psychiatric illness proved a signal event for Clemons. He pursued a sleep-medicine fellowship at the University of Michigan, completing the one-year program in 2004. He now practices sleep medicine at the Baptist Sleep Institute in Knoxville, Tenn.
"We are seeing an explosion of interest in sleep medicine as a career option for psychiatrists," said Michael Sateia, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and chief of sleep medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. This interest is reflected in the American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABMS) approval last year of sleep medicine as a subspecialty for physicians practicing psychiatry, neurology, internal medicine, and pediatrics, he noted. ABMS recently added otolaryngology to the list.
Starting in 2007, the American Board of Internal Medicine will administer the sleep-medicine board exam, with certification conferred by boards overseeing the specialties listed above. The exam formerly was given by the American Board of Sleep Medicine.
"The new exam acknowledges that sleep medicine involves a sufficient body of knowledge and skill sets to qualify as an independent medical subspecialty," said Lawrence Epstein, M.D., president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and regional medical director for Sleep HealthCenters in Boston.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved 24 sleep-medicine fellowships nationwide. ACGME recognition means that funding for fellowships is available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Fellowships typically provide an annual stipend of about $60,000.
Allen Richert, M.D., the psychiatry residency training director at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, thinks sleep medicine education belongs in the psychiatry residency.
"Sleep disorders and sleep deprivation contribute to depressed mood, irritability, attention deficits, and sleepiness," he said. "Psychiatrists need experience with hypnotic medications and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia."
Patients with sleep disorders benefit from a psychiatric perspective, he added. "Psychiatrists understand how patients' emotions drive behavior."
Psychiatrists interested in sleep medicine should contact their local sleep disorders centers, suggested Daniel Buysse, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Many centers are looking for more input from psychiatrists to help them manage patients with sleep disorders and psychiatric comorbidity."