Sleep medicine is a relatively new medical discipline since the 1970’s. It has developed tremendously and has come across as an independent discipline in the United States over the last thirty years. The US has a well-developed and respected sleep medicine training structure which allows specialists from various disciplines, including psychiatry, to acquire specialty training in sleep and become certified sleep specialists. This is not the case in Europe and the United Kingdom where there is no structured training and the practice of sleep medicine is limited to respiratory physicians (such as pulmonologists). In the last decade there has been an increased interest among US psychiatry residents in pursuing further training in sleep medicine. This article gives a brief overview of the development of sleep medicine in the US in the past 30 years and the current structure of training in the US compared to several European countries. It highlights the value of sleep medicine as a career choice for psychiatrists and the advantage psychiatrists have in treating sleep disorders.
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