Educating Sleep Medicine Professionals

Greater Washington Sleep Disorders Center (GWSDC), an affiliate of SleepMed, Inc., educates our community about sleep problems at community health fairs, seminars, and by providing a various published materials. GWSDC also offers technical education, including, but not limited to:

• Regularly scheduled regional meetings and seminars for physicians and other sleep medicine professionals
• Intensive, on-site courses to enhance physician education.

If you are an employer or an educator and would like to learn more about these educational programs, please call us at 1-800-AWAKEN-1.

School Of Polysomnography

Based on changing regulations in the State of Maryland GWSDC, in conjunction with SleepMed, Inc., will only be offering it's private technical career training school in Maryland to individuals selected for hire who fall in the following categories:

• Candidates who live in Northern Virginia and who are selected for hire for a position in Northern Virginia only

• Candidates who have at least several months experience in polysomnography prior to applying to equal 18 months of paid clinical experience by September 2009. Additional clinical instruction will be provided. Applicants will also need to plan on taking the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s A-Step learning modules on line to qualify for the BRPT exam which must be taken prior to October 2009;

• Applicants who are credentialed as a Nurse (RN, LPN), Respiratory Care (RRT, CRT), Electroneurodiagnostics ( R.EEG T.) M.D, or D.O. or national EMT-Pomplete may also apply. Acceptance into the program will be based on a written work/study agreement to include 6 months of academic and hands on training in Polysomnography during which they will need to complete the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s A-Step learning modules on line to qualify for the exam. The BRPT exam will be taken at the end of the program and no later than October 2009.

If we are able to accept your application for employment under the above guidelines than your current academic background will be evaluated and part or all of the following programs will be offered to assist you and qualifying for and passing the BRPT exam no later than October 2009:

• Intensive, two (2)-week introductory courses in Sleep Medicine for Sleep Technologist trainees
• Three (3)-month, on-site clinical rotation program for beginning Sleep Technologists to establish basic, practical skills
• Registry review courses prior to Polysomnography Technologist Registry Exams
• Various customized courses and seminars to meet individualized needs.

Based on the course selected, course content may be customized to include some or all of the following essential topics:

Administering a Polysomnogram
Patient Record Review
Polysomnogram Demonstration
Electrode Placement & Clinical Practice
Methods of Electrode Placement & Clinical Practice
Scoring a Polysomnogram Sleep Staging & Clinical Practice
Event Scoring & Clinical Practice
Sleep Staging & Clinical Practice
Event Scoring & Clinical Practice
Record Review and Scoring & Clinical Practice
Pediatric Sleep Disorders
Pediatric Polysomnography
Ancillary Equipment
Seizure Monitoring

Our program is not a CAAHEP-accredited program in polysomnography. SleepMed is a contracted clinical affiliate with Montgomery Community College in the State of Maryland who is currently working on developing such a program. There is currently not a CAAHEP approved program in the State of Maryland however several Collages are working on programs. When they are available information or links may be made available on this web site.

If this is an opportunity that might apply to or interest you or someone you know, we welcome your inquiry. The required work hours for a Sleep Technologists are 8:30 pm to 6:30 am four nights per work week. Shift requirements and locations may vary.

To learn more about the school and/or other employment opportunities, please contact us at ldipietro@sleepmed.md.