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WHAT IS SLEEP MEDICINE

Sleep Medicine, also called Sleep Technology or Polysomnographic Technology. It is a separate and distinct, multidisciplinary, allied health-care occupation embracing a unique body of knowledge and methodological skills. Polysomnography is a standard tool in Sleep Medicine for evaluating sleep-related pathophysiology, sleep architecture, and sleep integrity.

Specifically, it is a complex evaluation used as a quantitative measurement of multiple physiological parameters during sleep, combined with expert observational reporting. Sleep technologists, technicians and trainees are the technical group specially trained to perform polysomnography and other technical evaluations used for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep/arousal disorders. They are health-care professionals who work as part of a team under the general supervision of a licensed physician to assist in the education, evaluation, treatment and follow up of sleep disorders patients of all ages. This profession employs a unique set of diagnostic tools used in the interest of establishing diagnoses and developing future therapeutic interventions, which require expertise in the specialty of Sleep Medicine.

From the middle of the 20th century, research has provided increasing knowledge and answered many questions about sleep-wake functioning. This rapidly evolving field has become a recognized medical specialtyy. 

The first sleep labs in the United States were established in the 1970s by interested doctors and technicins. The study, diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were their first tasks. As late as 1999, virtually any American doctor, with no specific training in sleep medicine, could open a sleep lab.

Disorders and disturbances of sleep are widespread and can have significant consequences for affected individuals as well as economic and other consequences for society. The US National Transportation Safety Board has discovered that the leading cause of fatal-to-the-driver heavy truck crashes is fatigue-related (fatigue = 31%, alcohol and other drug use = 29%). Sleep deprivation has been a significant factor in dramatic accidents, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the nuclear incidents at Chernobyl & Three Mile Island and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

WHAT DO SLEEP TECHNOLOGISTS DO?
Credentialed by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT), Sleep Technologists assist physicians in the clinical assessment, physiological monitoring and testing, diagnosis, management, and prevention of sleep related disorders with the use of various diagnostic and therapeutic tools providing care to patients of all ages. These tools include but are not limited to polysomnograph, positive airway pressure devices, oximeter, capnograph, actigraph, nocturnal oxygen, screening devices, and questionnaires.

SALARY RANGE
Due to growing awareness of sleep disorders and the dramatic affects they have on everyday life, the need for polysomnography technologists is on the rise. Currently, the average Registered Polysomnographic Technologist (RPSGT) can expect to earn a yearly salary between approximately $38,000 and $53,000.

Polysomnography technologists with advanced training and experience are now making a median salary around $47,000. Technologist jobs at a competitive hourly salary rate are located in hospitals and sleep disorder centers throughout the country. In addition, many positions are available throughout the industry of "sleep medicine." Salaries can be extensive in the business communities sometimes exceding $100,000 plus bonuses.
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