This project will attempt to improve undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education at Harvard Medical School and in the local community by assembling a team of sleep disorders specialists and professional educators to develop a coherent longitudinal teaching program in sleep disorders with the necessary teaching materials. The underlying premise is that novel teaching techniques, based on modern adult learning theory, can be used to enhance the skills of physicians during and after training to improve the care of patients with sleep complaints. Undergraduate teaching will be accomplished through multifaceted exposure to sleep and sleep disorders medicine accomplished by weaving course materials throughout the undergraduate preclinical and clinical medical experience. In all situations the focus will be on small group encounters and will stress student-centered learning. Graduate education will be accomplished through direct clinical exposure and case-based teaching methods, rather than large lectures. Post-graduate training will focus on the application of academic detailing to the goal of improving physician recognition of sleep apnea. Teaching materials, centered on case-based learning methods, will be developed for use in the longitudinal undergraduate sleep curriculum, residency and fellowship training rotations, and on-site visits to primary care providers in medically under-served communities. The success of these programs will be determined with quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools. In all these efforts, the focus will be on applying teaching techniques with documented effectiveness to improve the knowledge, skills and attitudes of physicians in practice and in training with the ultimate goal of improving care of sleep disorders patients.
