Sleep Medicine

[(nicedream)]

I'm having a hard time finding info on this field in regards to competitiveness/income/lifestyle/market prospects. I'd love to hear from anyone on any or all of those 4 topics, as well as any potential downside to pursuing it following psych rather than neuro or pulm (the more traditional routes I believe). Thanks in advance for any info.

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[prominence]

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[watto]

The hard part is finding the fellowship--there aren't that many and it's hard enough for the neurologists to get them. Research is highly recommended, according to the sleep docs I have spoken with. One circuitous way in is to do a year of clinical and a year of research outside of a specific funded fellowship, but ally yourself with a sleep clinic that does not offer a fellowship for your clinical segment and apply for $$$ via the NIH for your research year. At least that is what I heard from a sleep clinic director recently.

It's a fantastic field once you get there, if you are interested in parasomnias and behavioral tx for sleep disorders...plus, the meds that are on the horizon are fascinating. I think you could learn a lot by scheduling an information-type interview with a doc at a local sleep center, if you have one, esp. regarding salaries and the like.

 

[Neurotica]

Thanks for bringing this up, because I've actually been looking into this field recently as well. I'm curious as to what exactly the psychiatrist's role is in sleep med with all the pulm/neuro people going into it. But it seems like an interesting field and thanks for the info posted so far, I look forward to reading more!

 

[(nicedream)]

The hard part is finding the fellowship--there aren't that many and it's hard enough for the neurologists to get them. Research is highly recommended, according to the sleep docs I have spoken with. One circuitous way in is to do a year of clinical and a year of research outside of a specific funded fellowship, but ally yourself with a sleep clinic that does not offer a fellowship for your clinical segment and apply for $$$ via the NIH for your research year. At least that is what I heard from a sleep clinic director recently.

It's a fantastic field once you get there, if you are interested in parasomnias and behavioral tx for sleep disorders...plus, the meds that are on the horizon are fascinating. I think you could learn a lot by scheduling an information-type interview with a doc at a local sleep center, if you have one, esp. regarding salaries and the like.

Thanks watto. I did not know the fellowships were competitive. It does seem like a very interesting and up-and-coming field, but there's a lack of information out there since it's relatively new I suppose.