Abstract
Introduction
Sleep is recognized the world over as very important in health and disease. But there is no articulated curriculum in undergraduate (UG) medical education in India. Whence incorporated, these learning objectives serve as an important bridge across multiple medical faculties like pulmonary medicine, neurology, ENT, psychiatry, and basic sciences.
Methods
After obtaining informed consent, a questionnaire-based electronic survey was circulated to clinical/non-clinical teaching medical faculties in December 2020. They were asked to prioritize the objectives of the sleep medicine curriculum for the UG medical education program. The objectives were listed under knowledge and skill-based competencies each having 9 and 10 questions respectively, scale rated 1–5. Objectives were enlisted from the previous studies, consensus statements and modified according to the local needs after face to face meetings with faculties involved in UG curriculum development.
Results
Out of 400 faculty members from different medical schools all over India, 127 had responded. None of the Indian institutions had sleep medicine in their UG curriculum. 112 (88%) members showed their interest to begin a UG program. The suggested sleep medicine curriculum proposes a vertical integration of competency-based goals into the core curriculum with a clinical angle which will require skill and knowledge-oriented modules. Amongst the knowledge-based competency, sleep loss and its health effects (77%) was more preferred than distinguishing sleep in newborns and adults (36%). Whereas in the skill-based competency providing advice on sleep hygiene (71%) was more preferred than sleep disturbances during pregnancy and menopause (33%). When our curriculum gets implemented, it is possible to provide exposure to sleep-related disorders early on for the UG’s. This will invoke their interest and thus serve to bridge the lacunae caused by the shortage of trained sleep specialists in India.
Conclusion
From our study, the learning objectives of the sleep medicine curriculum have been prioritized and are ready for implementation. The survey has also created awareness and interest amongst the Indian medical teaching faculty.
Support (if any):
Medical education in India during the COVID-19 pandemic
