Sleep education in medical school curriculum: a glimpse across countries.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional survey study (graded by design analogy for medical education research)
PubMed 21924951 · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2011.07.001
What was done
A survey assessing the prevalence of education on sleep and sleep disorders was sent to 409 medical schools across 12 countries: Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, and Viet Nam.
What was found
The overall survey response rate was 25.9% (approximately 106 of 409 schools), ranging from 0% in India to 100% in New Zealand and Singapore. Responding medical schools spent an average of just under 2.5 hours on sleep education overall, with 27% reporting no sleep education at all. Responding schools in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Viet Nam reported providing no education, while only Australia and the United States/Canada reported more than 3 hours. Time allocated to paediatric sleep topics averaged 17 minutes, compared to over 2 hours for adult-focused topics.
Why it matters
Despite increasing clinical awareness of sleep disorders, medical school curricula in multiple countries provide minimal dedicated instruction on sleep medicine.
Limits
The study had a low overall response rate (25.9%) with extreme variation across countries, including zero responses from India, introducing substantial risk of non-response bias. The data rely entirely on self-reported survey responses from participating schools, and student retention, clinical competency, and curriculum quality were not evaluated.
Cited by
- context Most medical doctors receive less than two hours of formal education on sleep during their medical school curriculum.