Individuals new to or interested in becoming involved in the management of a sleep center now have the opportunity to register for a new course through the AASM which will cover the topics necessary to begin a career in sleep center management. Basics of Sleep Center Management will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at the AASM National Office in Darien, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago). During this one-day course, faculty will present a broad overview of sleep center managemnt topics. Members of the AASM and the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) receive discounted pricing and can register on or before the advanced registration deadline of February 3, 2012 to save on registration fees.

Beginning in January, the AASM Inter-scorer Reliability Testing Program will receiving a full system upgrade to more closely resemble professional scoring software. The systems offers a greatly improved testing experience with larger records, the ability to score from a 120-second view and keyboard commands for faster scoring. For a closer look at the changes effective on January 1, 2012, try the Free Demo on the ISR website.

Untreated sleep disorders among police officers may be adversely affecting their health and safety and posing a risk to the public, according to study appearing in today’s issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). Nearly 5,000 officers were surveyed, with 40 percent screening positive for at least one sleep disorder, most of them previously undiagnosed.

On March 5–16, 2012 and October 8–19, 2012, the AASM will provide up to 20 sleep technicians with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of sleep technology at the updated An Introduction to Sleep Technology: An A-STEP Course. The two-week program, which will be held at the AASM national office in Darien, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), will provide participants with the practical skills that are essential for a successful career in the profession of sleep technology and will include a mixture of didactic lectures, online learning, practical exercises and observation at a sleep center.  Accredited by the AASM as an Accredited Sleep Technologist Education Program (A-STEP) Introductory Course, the program’s curriculum has been developed to align with the core competencies required in a sleep technologist’s daily duties. And because the program will be limited to 20 participants, each technician will receive personalized training and hands-on experience in addition to over $1,100.00 worth of course material included with their registration fees!

In February 2011, the AASM introduced an accreditation program for Out of Center Sleep Testing (OSCT) for Adult Patients. Facilities currently accredited by the AASM as a sleep disorders center are eligible to be awarded accreditation as an OCST provider by completing an Out of Center Sleep Testing Accreditation Participation Attestation Form by December 31, 2011. All AASM accredited centers must complete this form; if your center does not currently perform OCST, completion of this form is still required.
The AASM requests that centers complete their forms based on your facility’s current status as an OCST provider:

The December 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is now available on the recently revamped JCSM website. AASM members can login and earn continuing medical education (CME) credits by reading the full articles designated for CME and passing an online post-test within one year of the date of publication. Studies designated for CME credit in the October issue are: "The Effects of Altitude Associated Central Apnea on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Comparative Data from Three Different Altitude Locations in the Mountain West" and "Zolpidem Ingestion, Automatisms, and Sleep Driving: A Clinical and Legal Case Series"