ABSTRACT
Background: Only recently health professionals have started recognizing sleep disorders as one of the commonest cause of morbidity. Only in the last 50 years have scientists and physicians attempted a systematic study of the physiology and disorders of sleep. The situation is changing in India too. About a decade ago the sleep medicine started developing but remained in the domain of Pulmonary Medicine. Through various societies, meetings, workshops it has now percolated to physiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and allied specialists. However, there is still a gap in the awareness about sleep and its disorders among health professionals. Limited information is available regarding sleep education in current medical curriculum in India and globally. Aims: (i) To find out the existence of a course or module on sleep medicine in any of Government medical colleges in India. (ii) To explore feasibility of using Learning Resource Material (LRM) on CDs for Continuing Medical Education. Methods: As an outcome of Sleep Symposium held at National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) conference at AIIMS, Jodhpur, a survey was carried out among 100 Government Medical Colleges in India along with Resource Material consisting of didactic teaching material distributed through Compact Disc (CD) to explore utility of the method. Results: Response rate from medical colleges was 41 %. Ninety five percent of medical colleges denied of having any structured course or module on sleep medicine. Fifty percent felt that such module should be included for both UG and PG while 70 % agreed for PG only. Regarding cost effective delivery methods for the content of such a module, majority responded in favour for an online or DVD based with one of the content experts as a resource person with his physical presence. All respondent were highly satisfied by the content of CD. Conclusion: Sleep education is almost non-existent in most of medical schools in India. Survey elicited average response from academic community. However, sleep education has been perceived by 70 % participants to be included in PG curriculum. The content of PowerPoint presentations was considered highly satisfying and using multi-modal technology for sleep education is regarded to be an effective delivery method by majority. It can be concluded that there is felt but unmet need of a course on sleep medicine in our existing medical curriculum using information technology.
ABSTRACT
Continuing Medical Education is an indispensable part of physician's learning. Well designed program based on andragogy principles can enhance learning by motivating the learner and providing platform to encourage self directed learning. The present study aimed to explore the impact of program “NAMS-AIIMS Regional Symposium on Sleep Medicine” in changing the behavior and attitude of participants using “Satisfaction Index” and descriptive analysis of responses as evaluation tools for program effectiveness. This descriptive cross sectional study captured the response of participants through a pre-tested and validated questionnaire administered at the end of symposium. The result showed almost equal sex distribution (M: F- 27: 34) with majority being UG students (86%). Reliability of data showed Cronbach's Alpha of 0.98 indicating high reliability. Satisfaction index (SI) calculated as per WHO Educational Handbook for Health Personnel showed highest satisfaction for conducive environment of symposium (87.87 %) followed by provision for time to seek clarifications (87.21%), provision of appropriate Learning Resource material (85.90 %) and handling of critical comments by organizers (85.57%). Descriptive analysis showed majority responses as highly positive to our questionnaire with suggestions for more such activity, inclusion of clinical cases and other aspects of practical relevance.