Sleep education for medical students: A study exploring gaps and opportunities.

PURPOSE: To explore final-year medical students' perceptions of sleep education during medical school to inform the development of a sleep curriculum.

METHODS

Year 6 medical students on their final general practice placement in 2020 were invited to complete an online survey including questions regarding sleep education recalled during the medical programme.

RESULTS

Responses were received from 51/71 (72 %) students. Main learning topics recalled by participants were sleep apnoea (83 %), sleep physiology (71 %), and snoring (69 %). Education in other topics was reported by <65 % of students. Priority topics for students were treating common sleep disorders, taking a sleep history, and navigating shift work.

CONCLUSIONS

Whilst the majority of students recalled education on specific topics, many had little awareness of education relating to sleep assessment, insomnia, or shift work. Sleep education in the curriculum needs more emphasis and reinforcement given sleep's relevance across many domains of health and morbidity. We propose that an identifiable sleep curriculum is required to ensure medical students have the necessary core education regarding sleep and sleep disorders both for patients and themselves. Further, we believe this is possible to achieve in a short timeframe within the constraints of an existing curriculum and propose some creative solutions.