How the World Sleep Congress Advances Patient Care
Doctors in all specialties often travel to scientific conferences with their peers to share the new results of scientific studies, learn the latest clinical practices, and plan future projects. The process of learning never stops for doctors, and such meetings provide incredible educational opportunities.
Sleep medicine doctors and researchers especially benefit from meetings because it is a growing field in medicine. Imagine being one of only a few sleep specialists in your hometown. Attending a conference like the World Sleep congress can expand your network of peers and colleagues worldwide. Strong professional networks like this provide specialized education, peer support, and a drive for excellence that is hard to find anywhere else!
Over 3,000 people attended the 17th World Sleep congress, which was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over October 20–25, 2023. We asked a few attendees what they took home from the World Sleep congress.
Take-Aways
The best practices in patient care to use now.
At the World Sleep Congress (WSC), I watched many lectures and learned about current research. I was always thinking about my patients: How could that (new) information help me to provide better treatment and education for a specific case, or how can my approach change for another case. Now, at the clinic, I remember daily this or that lecture or topic I watched and incorporate new evidence and information into my practice.
– Cristina Frange, PhD (Brazil)
In my daily practice, attending World Sleep helped me to better organize interviews with my patients, conducting better questioning to achieve a more complete diagnosis. Providing treatment adapted to their requirements has me feeling more confident in the pathological approach. I learned that if the patient understands what ails them, is given multidisciplinary treatment, and you involve them, they will be more adherent and successful.
– Claudia Vasquez, MD (Peru)
My learning began with my flight to the congress. During the flight, the airline adjusted the light and different times of food service to provide us with the least circadian disturbance due to travel. I also realized how much eating behaviors and light could regulate sleep during a long flight and for sure in the daily life of our patients.
– Arezu Najafi, MD (Iran)
Academic Advances
Latest sleep research to understand potential for the future of sleep health care.
The World Sleep congress exposed me to new ways of thinking about research questions and facilitated my ability to think outside the box within my own research. – Katie Cederberg, PhD, CPT (United States)
I learned about pediatric sleep initiatives in other countries around the world and was able to take a more multifaceted view of the initiatives in my own country. I am now able to make better use of this knowledge in my own practice. – Yoshinori Saito, MD (Japan)
Meeting with industry people led to knowing I could search for others who are interested in funding sleep and also comply with academic and medical standards, which could lead to future collaborations that benefit both us and our patients. –Arezu Najafi, MD (Iran)
Expert Collaborations
International networking and planning for the future
Networking at the World Sleep congress helped me expand my research collaborations and I already have new ongoing research projects with these new, international collaborations. – Katie Cederberg, PhD, CPT (United States)
Connections made created new inspiration for research approaches, projects, and collaborations. Talking to peers also helped me reflect on my current work and goals. – Pien Fenneke Bosschieter, MD, PhD (Netherlands)
The World Sleep congress allows you to establish contacts with professionals with extensive experience who help you decipher some pathologies that are difficult to diagnose or manage. – Claudia Vasquez, MD (Peru)
The World Sleep Community Is Growing
As you can see from our attendees, the World Sleep congress is an exciting international meeting. The World Sleep congress travels around the globe, happening once every two years in a different location. At each location, World Sleep Society partners with a local sleep society to organize the congress. In Rio de Janeiro, we partnered with the Brazilian Sleep Association. So where is the World Sleep congress going in 2025? Singapore! The Asian Society of Sleep Medicine will be the host society. As this international community continues to grow, patients in places from Seattle, United States to Tbilisi, Georgia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will benefit from better connected and more informed sleep professionals. Expert Collaborations International networking and planning for the future.
What happens at the World Sleep congress?
The World Sleep congress is similar to many scientific meetings. Experts present the latest results from their research. They will form “symposium panels” where multiple experts present on a common theme together. Over 100 such symposium panels formed to present science at World Sleep 2023. That’s a lot of science!
Similarly, experts will also create individual presentations. These are called “abstracts,” and each abstract focuses only on a single research project that the presenter is working on. Over 1,100 such projects were shared at World Sleep in Rio.
Experts from over 70 countries traveled all the way to Rio de Janeiro to learn about the latest advances in sleep science. You know that the science of sleep is exciting when so many travel so far!
