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Volume 2
Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health Research
Psychiatry Nursing & Psychiatry 2019
June 17-18, 2019
Page 13
Psychiatry & Mental health Nursing
Psychiatry and Mental Health
June 17-18, 2019 | Rome, Italy
4
th
World Congress on
2
nd
Global Experts Meeting on
&
Gregory S Carter
UT Southwestern, USA
The underrecognized potential for subspecialty training in sleep medicine among psychiatric trainees
I
n 2016 there were 39,180 psychiatrists active in the U.S. workforce, of which around 500 were board
certified in sleep medicine. Currently, around 15 psychiatrists per year are entering sleep medicine
fellowship training in the U.S. The sleep medicine subspecialty is listed on both theAmerican Psychiatric
Association (APA) and American Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) webpages among
the 9 areas of psychiatric subspecialty training. Familiarity with the sleep medicine subspecialty,
however, has not yet spread to psychiatric residents, for unclear reasons. Sleep medicine is a multi-
disciplinary subspecialty in which several psychiatrists played significant roles in both early discoveries
and the establishment of the specialty. Many sleep disorders have significant overlap with mental illness
and generate referrals both to and from psychiatrists. Mental health providers need a bridge to improved
sleep disorder management that sleep medicine trained psychiatrists provide. Sleep medicine practices,
both private and academic, recognize the value of sleep medicine trained psychiatrists assisting in the
management of the mental health disorders that are frequently comorbid with common sleep disorders.
Currently, low levels of knowledge exist among psychiatric trainees regarding subspecialty training
in sleep medicine and the need for psychiatrists in this subspecialty practice. Apprehensions among
psychiatry residents that they would not be welcome in current multi-disciplinary sleep medicine
practices need to be assuaged. The practice of psychiatry is interdisciplinary in several areas including
medical illnesses, addiction disorders, and disorders of the elderly. The interdisciplinary practice of
sleep medicine promises a high percentage of good outcomes and excellent career satisfaction that
should be attracting more psychiatric trainees.
Biography
Gregory S Carter is the Program Director of the ACGME accredited University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Sleep
Medicine Fellowship Program. He initiated this training program in 2002 with psychiatrist Philip Becker and psychologist John Herman in the
Department of Psychiatry. The program has trained a total of 26 fellows, including five psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist. He received
his MD, PhD in pharmacology, and neurology residency training at West Virginia University. He is an Associate Professor of Neurology at UT
Southwestern. He was joined by Imran S. Khawaja, a sleep medicine trained psychiatrist, in 2015 who re-established the Sleep Center at the
VA North Texas Healthcare Center and began to train UT Southwestern sleep medicine fellows at the VANTHS in 2017.
gregory.carter@utsouthwestern.eduJ Psych and Mental Health Research, Volume 2