In This Issue...

Sleep Week 

Emerging Sleep Hero award

What’s on next

Education resource centre

SHF/ASA COVID supplement to pre-Budget submission

New education partnership with Australian College of Midwives

Exploring physicians’ perspectives of narcolepsy – participants needed

CPD in 2020 – Important information for physicians

Hot topic discussion - update on COVID-19

What’s on in Sleep Week? The Sleep Week hot topic discussion on COVID-19 is not to be missed.

Hear the latest update from Deputy CMO, Nick Coatsworth, as well as updates on other aspects of the pandemic.

• Transmission and risks for healthcare workers - Stephen Guy 
• Risks and benefits of acute NIV for COVID-19 infection - Amanda Piper 
• Monitoring in the time of COVID-19 - Teanau Roebuck  
• Update on National Living Guidelines COVID-19 - Sutapa Mukherjee

Friday 23 October, 2pm-4pm AEDT

Check out the latest program overview to see the exciting array of sleep education and research topics on offer.

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Emerging Sleep Hero Award

Postgraduate researchers currently enrolled at a university in Australia or New Zealand, and researching a sleep-related topic, are invited to submit an entry to the 2020 Sleep Health Foundation Emerging Sleep Hero Award.

A total of five selected finalists will present their research during the one-hour, online happy hour session at sleep week at 7-8pm (AEDT) on Friday October 23, 2020. More info  

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What’s on next

Re-thinking oral appliance therapy: treatment choices and combinations

Join Dr Fernanda Almeida for this webinar reviewing oral appliance therapy, focussing on treatment preference and combination therapy approaches, including recent trials using both CPAP and oral appliance therapy.
 
It will feature a comparison of oral appliances to CPAP in terms of efficacy, adherence, symptoms and health outcomes, along with highlighting the importance of treatment preference and patient-centred outcomes. You'll leave the webinar with a solid understanding of the potential role of combination therapy approaches in enhancing outcomes for patients.

Wednesday 23 September, 8am AEST

Even if you can’t make the live webinar session, don’t forget you can register and access the recording the following day. The recording will also be available free for ASA members from the Education Centre within a week or so of the event.

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Education resource centre

The Australasian Sleep Association's new and improved Education Centre is your one stop shop for great webinars and resources to help guide your path as a sleep professional.

With Sleep Week just around the corner you might like to revisit some sessions from Sleep DownUnder 2019 (SDU2019) to get you in the mood! You can find all these and more in the Education Centre.

Use the website search box to look for resources on a particular topic. Or browse the resource collections at the Sleep DownUnder library, webinar library and short course webinar library.

Many of the resources are free to our members. Non-members can also access these resources after paying a fee. Tell your colleagues and visit the education centre.

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 COVID-19 supplement to pre-Budget submission

The ASA and Sleep Health Foundation recently had the opportunity to update our Pre-Budget submission for 2020 to include a section on the impact of COVID-19 on sleep health. View the updated submission

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New education partnership with Australian College of Midwives

We've joined forces with Australia's midwives to help improve the sleep of babies, parents and midwives themselves. The new education partnership focuses on providing continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for midwives on sleep topics, primarily through the ASA's webinar program.

Recent webinar recordings on relevant topics are now available to Australian College of Midwives (ACM) at discounted rates:

• Sleep in women: pregnancy
• Sleep in women: normal sleep and circadian rhythms across the female lifespan
• Managing shift work.

To mark this exciting new partnership, the College of Midwives has launched a survey to ask the question "What do you want to know about sleep?" We'll use the responses from midwives to develop topics for the ASA's webinar program in 2021, and invite ACM members to attend at discounted rates. ACM is also approving CPD points for these webinars. We're looking forward to welcoming midwives to our webinars in 2021!

This partnership is the first of its type for the ASA. By reaching an agreement that benefits both organisations, the ASA is helping to bring evidence-based sleep education to an influential health practitioner audience. We look forward to a great partnership with ACM over the next 12 months, and refining the partnership model to expand our reach to other healthcare practitioner groups in the future.

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Exploring physicians’ perspectives of narcolepsy – participants needed

The University of Sydney is running a research project exploring physicians’ perspectives of narcolepsy. The project explores perceptions of patient needs, how the condition is managed and measured, and barriers physicians may face when treating the disorder. The study involves a one-on-one interview that will run for approximately 40 minutes in length and is open to both sleep physicians and paediatricians. Participation in the project may help improve the quality of life and health outcomes of those living with narcolepsy. 

If you are interested in participating, click here to find out more information about the study and register your details.

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Important information for physicians

A reminder of changes for the 2020 CPD year only

The RACP recognises that the innovation and learning it is currently seeing from our medical profession is perhaps the ultimate CPD. The RACP will not take action if you cannot meet CPD requirements in 2020. You are not required to record any CPD activities that you have completed in 2020, and the College will not be monitoring or auditing your 2020 CPD record.

The Medical Board of Australia has stated that AHPRA will not take action if you cannot meet the CPD registration standard when you renew your medical registration in 2020.

The Medical Council of New Zealand has waived recertification requirements for 2020. 

For more information visit the MyCPD interactive handbook  or contact the MyCPD Unit in Australia on 1300 697 227 or at [email protected] and in New Zealand on +64 4 460 8122 or at [email protected] 

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