18th Annual Sleep Medicine CME Course
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Introduction
Physicians in all areas of medicine encounter patients who complain of disturbed sleep. The purpose of this course, the 18th in its series, is to provide clinicians with the knowledge needed to recognize and treat major sleep disorders likely to be encountered in their clinical practice.
The course would emphasize a practical approach to sleep medicine across multiple specialties, including primary care medicine, family practice, psychiatry, neurology, geriatrics, and clinical psychology.
The course will focus on the assessment and evaluation of excessive sleepiness, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy, appreciate evaluation strategies and management of chronic insomnia and circadian disorders, and be able to evaluate and manage restless legs syndrome.
The course will conclude with a discussion of the history of sleep medicine leading to our current understanding of why we sleep and the underlying brain mechanisms generating sleep and wakefulness
Attendees will acquire skills needed in the recognition, evaluation, and management of the major sleep disorders they are likely to encounter during routine clinical practice across the patient’s lifespan, from pediatrics to older age. A primary goal of the course is to provide practitioners with both pragmatic evaluation strategies and treatment recommendations that may be integrated into their clinical practice.
Course faculty will discuss etiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic strategies, and pharmacological and behavioral treatment options and harmonize the management strategies based on evidence-based medicine and shared decision-making.
Target Audience
This course targets clinicians and healthcare providers who regularly encounter patients with sleep complaints. The course will be of value to primary care physicians, internists, family physicians, psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, pediatricians, geriatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and any other healthcare providers who are likely to encounter patients with sleep disturbances.
Trainees in the primary care disciplines, family medicine, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and sleep medicine would also find the course helpful.
Course Objective
- Recognize the history of sleep medicine, leading to the uncovering of the theories about why we sleep.
- Appreciate the causes of sleepiness in specific patient populations most likely to be encountered in primary care practice and by specialists in family medicine, primary care, psychiatry, neurology, pediatrics, and geriatric medicine.
- Review the key sleep disorders common among the pediatric patient population and outline key diagnostic tools and treatments in resolving these.
- Identify the unique mechanism of narcolepsy and identify diagnostic approaches for accurate evaluation.
- Understand the pharmacological management in managing excessive sleepiness in the setting of central disorders of hypersomnia, including narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia.
- Comprehend the underlying physiologic basis of sleep and wakefulness.
- Appreciate the clinical evaluation of sleep-disordered breathing, particularly physical exam findings and new diagnostic approaches based on emerging data on the use of home monitoring equipment and wearable devices.
- Discuss the conservative management techniques to address obstructive sleep apnea, including the use of surgical interventions, upper airway stimulation, and pharmacologic interventions.
- Recognizing the critical importance contributes to cognitive decline and might also increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease dementia by increasing the β-amyloid burden.
- Appraise the underlying mechanisms for generating sleep-wake circadian rhythm and recognize disturbances in circadian rhythms and their impact on health.
- Investigate the causes of sleep problems in older adults and their potential treatments in patients with neurodegenerative disorders.
18th Annual Sleep Medicine Virtual CME Course Faculty
18th Annual Sleep Medicine CME Course
Physicians in all areas of medicine encounter patients who complain of disturbed sleep. The purpose of this course, the 18th in its series, is to provide clinicians with the knowledge needed to recognize and treat major sleep disorders likely to be encountered in their clinical practice.
Saturday, April 25
2026
18th Annual Sleep Medicine Virtual CME Course Schedule
7:45 am – 8:00 am
Welcome and Introduction
Alon Y. Avidan MD, MPH
8:00 am – 9:00 am
The History and Discovery of Sleep
Kenneth Millier
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Pediatric Sleep Medicine
Judy Owens, MD
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Sleepless in the 21st Century: Rethinking Chronic Insomnia Care
Colin Espie, PhD
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Modern Strategies for Managing Sleep Apnea
Atul Malhotra, MD
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
The Evaluation and Management of Narcolepsy
Kiran Maski, MD MPH
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Circadian and Sleep Strategies to Optimize Health, Performance and Safety
Charles A. Czeisler, MD, PhD
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Unrest at Rest: Innovations in Managing Restless Legs Syndrome
Michael Silber, M.B. Ch.B.
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Sleep in Older Age & People with Dementia
Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD
5:00 pm – 5:15 pm
Summary and Conclusion
Alon Y. Avidan MD, MPH
Get in Touch With the SLEEP 2025 Team
Accreditation Statement
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. AASM designates this live activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™:
- Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:
- 8.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
8.0 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program; and
8.0 annual part II self-assessment credit in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s Continuing Certification program (formerly known as MOC). - It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM, ABP, or ABOHNS MOC credit.
- The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology has reviewed the 18th Annual Sleep Medicine Virtual Course Self-Assessment Exam and has approved these programs as a part of a comprehensive self-assessment program, which is mandated by the ABMS as a necessary component of maintenance of certification.
- PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT (PA) CREDIT:
- PAs may claim a maximum of 8.00 Category 1 credits for sessions offered at the 18th Annual Sleep Medicine Virtual Course. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.
- NURSE PRACTITIONER (NP) CREDIT:
- NPs may claim a maximum of 8.00 Category 1 credits for sessions offered at the 18th Annual Sleep Medicine Virtual Course. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
General Information
The virtual conference will be live-streamed. Course registrants will be provided on-demand access to a recording of the conference for one month immediately following the conference.
Planner Disclosures:
The following planners have no relevant financial relationships with any ineligible companies to disclose:
Richard Thorpe, MPharm
Charlotte Worsley
Alyssa Ebersole
Alon Y. Avidan MD, MPH disclosed financial relationships with Avadel Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc. (consultant, Speaker), Lilly & Company (Speaker), and Takeda (consultant).
The relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.
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$95