Sleep Education in Otolaryngology Residency Programs: Trends Over the Past Decade

We aim to assess current trends in sleep education in otolaryngology residency training programs in the United States.

Cross-sectional survey.

Otolaryngology residency programs in the United States.

Survey sent to otolaryngology program directors. Responses compared to results of prior sleep education surveys.

In total, 31 program directors responded (response rate 29%). In total, 93% reported having faculty with clinical time dedicated to the treatment of sleep disorders, an increase from 58% in 2011. However, only 29% reported having faculty with board certification in sleep medicine. In total, 71% have at least 0.6 months of cumulative training time related to sleep medicine, a significant increase from 34% in 2011 (P < .01). In total, 61% report at least 5 hours of didactics on sleep medicine in their curriculum compared to 16% in 2011 (P = .01); 77% of programs provide education on the interpretation of home polysomnograms (48% 2011) (P = .02), while 83% provide residents with training on interpreting in-laboratory polysomnograms (2011 92%) (P = .47).

The current study suggests positive growth with regards to sleep education in otolaryngology residency training over the past decade. Responding programs report an increase in faculty providing sleep medicine treatment, an increase in exposure to home polysomnography interpretation, and an increase in sleep medicine-related didactic hours. The number of programs with faculty subspecialized in sleep medicine remains low. Although resident exposure to sleep medicine education is improving, additional educational opportunities to enhance resident physicians' sleep education experience would likely be beneficial.