| Educational, Community Outreach & Celebratory Events | Silver Celebration Launch | Cutting Edge Research Updates | 10th Annual APSS | Summer Events | Fall Events | Grand Finale | Summary | Next Upcoming Event (October 14) |
The clinical specialty of sleep disorders medicine was born at Stanford University a quarter of a century ago. Prior to 1972, although the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic was being organized, it had not achieved a clear identity as part of the Stanford Medical Center clinical practice, and there was certainly no discipline of sleep medicine. In January of 1972, the Stanford Sleep Clinic introduced the standard procedure for examining nocturnal sleep, now widely known as "clinical polysomnography," and by so doing, formally extended the practice of medicine to include the sleeping patient. In less than a year, Stanford sleep specialists had learned enough to offer a CME course, "Sleep Disorders: A New Clinical Discipline." It is generally accepted that an essential criterion of defining a scientific or clinical discipline is that it possesses an organized body of knowledge which can be taught. Accordingly, it is appropriate to designate the date of the first CME effort, November 29, 1972, as the "official" birthday of the field of sleep medicine.
In 1975, following a sabbatical year with the Stanford group, the late Dr. Elliot Weitzman founded a second sleep disorders clinic at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Representatives from Stanford and Montefiore as well as from several other laboratories which were doing research on sleep formed the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers (now the American Sleep Disorders Association) in November,1975. Dr William C. Dement was elected the first president and led the organization and the field for the next twelve years.
From 1972 to the present, Stanford sleep specialists have described and characterized a number of specific sleep disorders, and have developed effective treatments. Particularly in the first ten years or so, the Stanford Sleep Disorders Center provided the only source of training for physicians and technicians in other parts of the country who wished to be involved in the practice of sleep medicine. The Stanford program also developed most of the standard nomenclature and technical procedures that are the foundation of the field. Today, the practice of sleep medicine has spread all over the world and several thousand physicians, researchers, and technicians are involved. As we approach the 21st century, the Stanford program remains the recognized leader, and its faculty and staff continue to demonstrate high levels of research and clinical productivity.
A number of outstanding events will take place to celebrate the Silver Anniversary year of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic and the field of sleep medicine. Some of these events will take place in early June prior to the annual combined meeting in San Francisco of the American Sleep Disorders Association, the Sleep Research Society, and the Association of Polysomnographic Technologists. Other events are scheduled for the remainder of 1997.
Silver Celebration Lecture by Professor Mary Carskadon, Brown University. This cutting edge event, co-sponsored by the Center on Adolescence at Stanford, was followed by a special interactive session with Bay Area high school students, teachers, and administrators. Earlier in the day, Drs. Carskadon and William Dement made visits in Sacramento to alert legislators to sleep-related issues.
Our current understanding of the sleep-related determinants of daytime fatigue and impairment in the classroom and the workplace is based on a decade of pioneering reasearch (1976-1985) in a unique facility, the Stanford University Summer Sleep Camp. Professor Carskadon served as Camp Director and then accepted positions at Bradley Hospital, Providence, R.I. and Brown University. She has continued to carry out important research on the sleep of adolescents and has tremendously advanced our understanding of the impact of sleep disorders and insufficient sleep on the school performance, health, and psychosocial development during the second decade of life.
A special program to be offered in San Francisco for the convenience of members of the Association of Polysomnographic Technologists, Sleep Research Society, and American Sleep Disorders Association as well as interested health professionals all over the San Francisco Bay Area. A reception for all Stanford sleep alumni will follow.
Christian Guilleminault, Mary Carskadon, Merill Mitler, Vincent Zarcone, Dave Raynal, William Dement, Ara Tilkian. Fred Eldridge
A decade of ground breaking research in this facility provided the foundation for today's scientific understanding and public policy concerns about fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness, health and safety.
The Stanford Sleep Center will be a co-sponsor of this annual event involving bicycling from Irvine, California to Savannah, Georgia. Sleep expertise will be made available to officials and riders to understand and monitor the extreme degree of sleep loss that racers will experience. Recovery sleep of selected participants will be monitored in Savannah at the end of the race.
Date to be announced
Outstanding sleep experts will discuss the latest and best ways to deal with sleep problems. A widely publicized event for the lay community.
An all day CME course taught by an all star Stanford and guest Faculty. Co-sponsored by the School of Sleep Medicine at Stanford.
7:30 am - 8:00 am Continental Breakfast
8:00 am - 8:30 am Extending the Practice of Medicine to the Sleeping Patient: The Urgent Need for Primary Care Involvement
William Dement, M.D.,Ph.D.
8:30 am - 9:30 am Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Fundamentals
Dale Edgar, Ph.D.
9:30 am - 10:00 am Classifications of Sleep Disorders
Richard Simon, M.D.
10:00 am - 10:45 am Circadian Disorders and Sleep Hygiene
Richard Simon, M.D.
10:45 am - 11:00 am Break
11:00 am - 11:30 am Sleep Testing in Primary Care
Clete Kushida, M.D., Ph.D.
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Parasomnias
Jennings Falcon, M.D.
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Lunch - Speaker, William Dement, "Historical Aspects of Sleep Medicine and Public Policy"
William C. Dement, M.D., Ph.D.
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Nature and Diagnosis
Eric Ball, M.D.
2:00 pm - 2:45 pm Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Treatments/Outcomes in Primary Care
Eric Ball, M.D.
2:45 pm - 3:15 pm New Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatments and Availability
Nelson Powell, M.D.
3:15 pm - 3:30 pm Break
3:30 pm - 4:15 pm Diagnosis and Treatment of Insomnia
Richard Simon, M.D.
4:15 pm - 5:00 pm Narcolepsy and Restless Legs Syndrome
Jennings Falcon, M.D.
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Managing Sleep Disorders In Your Practice: What You Can Do Tomorrow And In the Future
Faculty
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Reception
The Sleep Education and Research Foundation and mail to:
A 2-day symposium featuring didatic lectures, patient demonstrations and a "hands-on" workshop of the contemporary procedures and relevant anatomy in treating obstructive sleep apnea.
The Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Center has been the leader in sleep research since its conception by Dr. William C. Dement in 1970. Christian Guilleminault, M.D. coined the term "obstructive sleep apnea" in 1972 and Drs. Robert W. Riley and Nelson B. powell developed several procedures to improve clinical outcomes over uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in the treatment of this entity in the mid-1980's. This course reviews in didactic lectures the history of sleep medicine, polysomnography interpretation, the medical therapies available for treating sleep-related breathings, disorders (i.e., obstructive sleep apnea and upper airway resistance syndrome), and the rationale, indications, techniques and clinical outcomes for the surgical management of this disease. The course highlights the step by step procedures of the Stanford Surgical Protocol. Video presentations, round table discussions, laboratory surgical technique demonstrations and hands-on laboratory training with cadaver dissections and the new radiofrequency technology will offer a superior learning experience. During lunch and at the completion of each day, the faculty will be available for questions and answers.
Fall Events continued.......
This event is conceived as a follow-up to the landmark NTSB/NASA Symposium in November of 1995. Some issues to be covered are: sleep in space; progress in dealing with sleep deprivation in the workplace and transportation; does America need a National Sleep Laboratory?
Can new screening tools, treatments, and technologies make it possible for non-specialists to diagnose and treat effectively? Recent experience in several primary care clinics will be presented along with guidelines and clinical pathways. Outstanding primary care physicians from all over the United States will spearhead this important event. The aim will be to create regional centers of vigorous activity dedicated to penetrating primary care clinical practice. The approach to achieveing effective involvement of key physicians will be based on the highly successful Walla Walla Project.
- Date to be announced
There are now many patient support organizations serving sleep disorders victims around the nation. These include AWAKE groups, Restless Legs Syndrome support groups, and the Narcolepsy Network. This series of workshops will foster exchange of information, problem solving, and improving access.
This event will include presentations by sleep specialists from around the world. Needs and opportunities will be identified.
This "grand finale" event in our Silver Celebration will set the stage for the future evolution of sleep disorders medicine at Stanford and around the world. An all star faculty will discuss a variety of new technologies that are on the horizon as well as the future evolution of the conventional roles of health professionals involved in sleep medicine including physician sleep specialists, polysomnographic technologists, clinical psychologists, and research personnel. An important feature will involve the goals of fostering a society that is fully aware of the importance of healthy sleep -- a society that has integrated sleep knowledge into all components of the health care and educational systems as well as the home, the workplace, and all modes of transportation.
In summary, the Silver Celebration will be launched in April and will be continued for the remainder of the year with a widely publicized series of outstanding events to highlight the progress of basic and clinical sleep research, current cutting edge opportunities, and the promise and problems that lie ahead. The crucial formative role of the Stanford program in the first quarter century and beyond.
Go back to The Sleep Well Home Page