President's Blog - DECEMBER 2018

Dear SBSM Members, 

The holiday season gives us the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. We build and maintain our relationships because we are stronger together.  The same is true for organizations.  The SBSM recently attended two meetings with organizations to discuss challenges in our field and develop strategies to meet those challenges.

The SBSM represented sleep psychology at the annual APA Council of Specialties meeting in Washington DC.   Eleven other specialty areas were also represented and discussion centered on challenges we share and possible solutions.  Challenges include, increasing student awareness of specialty training, providing quality training and promoting specialty certification.  Additionally, the council is completing a taxonomy template for specialties to develop their specific education guidelines. 

The SBSM also sent representatives to the summit on sleep apnea organized by the AASM. Invited participants discussed the challenge of how to provide access to diagnosis and treatment for the millions of Americans with sleep untreated sleep apnea.  The one-day conference resulted in a number of suggestions including on-site training for providers at family practice clinics, online education and weekend CME teaching sessions for physician specialists, development of a sleep certification program for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and greater use of telemedicine.  Click here to review the full summary and press release.

While this is a busy time of year, remember to vote on the bylaws changes and to renew your SBSM membership.  Also, please submit your abstracts and proposals for symposia or workshops and make plans to attend our First BSM Scientific Meeting on September 12-15 to be held at the world-class Ross Bridge Resort.   This will be an outstanding meeting of nationally and internationally known experts in BSM presenting new research and state of the art updates in BSM.   This will all happen in a gorgeous resort with afternoons free to network and relax.

Finally, the Board of Directors wants to wish you and your families a happy and healthy new year.

Happy Holidays,
Donna Arand, PhD