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Sleep in Healthcare
A comprehensive functional neurology framework for understanding, evaluating, and managing the full spectrum of sleep pathology in clinical practice
Gain advanced clinical command of sleep neuroscience, circadian biology, sleep disorder breathing, insomnia, and parasomnias across 15 CE credits.
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Course Description
Sleep dysfunction is present across a significant portion of every clinical caseload, yet the neurological mechanisms driving these presentations rarely receive the depth they deserve. From disordered circadian timing to upper airway collapse, the clinical complexity of sleep is substantial and the systemic consequences are well documented.
This 15-credit functional neurology course gives clinicians a rigorous, mechanism-based understanding of sleep across its full biological range. You will build command of sleep staging and polysomnographic interpretation, circadian neuroanatomy and chronophysiology, obstructive and central sleep apnea evaluation and management, evidence-based insomnia treatment, parasomnia classification, and the systemic consequences of sleep deprivation. Training at this level expands your ability to identify sleep-driven contributors to cardiovascular, metabolic, cognitive, and mood disorders in your patient population.
What you’ll learn:
- Interpret sleep architecture and EEG-based staging across all NREM and REM sleep phases
- Apply the neuroanatomy of circadian regulation from the SCN to melatonin secretion
- Evaluate and manage obstructive, central, and complex sleep apnea in clinical practice
- Implement evidence-based behavioral and pharmacological insomnia treatment protocols
- Identify and classify parasomnias and the neurodegenerative implications of RBD
More About This Course
Sleep is one of the most biologically consequential processes in human physiology, and it is one of the most undertreated domains in clinical practice. For functional neurology clinicians, sleep represents a direct window into the health of the nervous system. Disrupted circadian rhythms, disordered sleep architecture, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic insomnia, and REM behavior disorder are not peripheral concerns. They are neurological presentations with measurable systemic impact. This course delivers the mechanistic depth, clinical frameworks, and evidence-based protocols that allow clinicians to assess and address sleep pathology with the precision the condition demands. Core topics include sleep staging, polysomnographic and home sleep test interpretation, circadian rhythm neuroscience and chronophysiology, sleep disorder breathing evaluation and management, insomnia neurobiology and behavioral treatment, parasomnia classification and clinical identification, and the documented consequences of acute and chronic sleep deprivation.
This course moves beyond surface-level familiarity. Clinicians who complete this training develop a working command of the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of sleep regulation, including the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, glymphatic system function, adenosine homeostasis, melatonin and circadian entrainment, and the EEG-defined architecture of sleep stages. From that foundation, the course builds clinical capability across the full spectrum of sleep pathology. Clinicians learn to read and interpret polysomnographic data, understand the indications and contraindications for home sleep testing, apply validated screening tools including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and STOP-BANG questionnaire, differentiate OSA from central and complex sleep apnea, select appropriate PAP and non-PAP treatment strategies, and implement evidence-based behavioral therapies including CBT-I, sleep restriction, and stimulus control therapy.
This course is designed for licensed healthcare clinicians who encounter sleep-related presentations in practice and want to elevate their clinical reasoning and patient outcomes in this area. Functional neurologists, chiropractors with advanced neurological training, and clinicians building integrative or neurology-focused practices will find this training particularly relevant. The content is also valuable for any provider seeking to understand the neurological underpinnings of conditions frequently linked to poor sleep, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, mood disorders, cognitive decline, and chronic pain.
Dr. Roy Wilkins brings decades of clinical experience and deep functional neurology expertise to this course. His instruction bridges basic neuroscience with practical clinical application, translating complex mechanisms of sleep regulation into frameworks that are immediately usable at the point of care. The result is a training experience that respects the intelligence of the clinician and delivers knowledge calibrated to advanced practice. This 15-credit continuing education course is part of the Carrick Institute's commitment to producing clinicians who operate at the frontier of functional neuroscience, equipped to manage the full complexity of the patients who trust them with their care.
Components
Educational Syllabus
- The Biology of Sleep and Why the Brain Cannot Survive Without It
- Explore the foundational science of why all living organisms sleep, including restorative theory, glymphatic waste clearance, memory consolidation, immune function, and brain plasticity, building the biological case for sleep as a clinical priority.
- Mapping Sleep Architecture Across the Night
- Master the full progression of NREM stages N1 through N3, REM tonic and phasic states, EEG frequency signatures, sleep spindles, K complexes, and normal age-related changes from infancy through late adulthood.
- Neuroscience of the Circadian Clock and Biological Timekeeping
- Discover the SCN as the master circadian pacemaker, the retinohypothalamic and geniculohypothalamic tracts, melanopsin photoreception, melatonin secretion, zeitgebers, and how photic and nonphotic cues drive clinical phase shifts.
- Polysomnography and Sleep Study Interpretation in Practice
- Understand the full parameters of diagnostic PSG, home sleep test types II through IV, indications, contraindications, scoring indices, and how to integrate sleep study findings meaningfully into clinical decision making.
- Sleep Disorder Breathing From Screening to Treatment
- Gain clinical command of OSA, central, mixed, and complex sleep apnea pathophysiology, risk stratification using STOP-BANG and Epworth tools, and the cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive consequences of untreated SDB.
- PAP Therapy and the Full Toolkit for Treating Sleep Apnea
- Compare CPAP, APAP, BiPAP, ASV, and NIV modalities with clinical selection criteria, oral appliance standards, surgical options, and behavioral management strategies, so you can build a complete, individualized treatment pathway for every patient.
- Circadian Rhythm Disorders and Chronotherapy in Clinical Practice
- Differentiate jet lag, shift work disorder, delayed and advanced sleep phase syndromes, irregular sleep wake cycle, and non-24 disorder, and apply light therapy, melatonin timing, and chronotherapy protocols with precision.
- The Neurobiology of Insomnia and How to Break the Cycle
- Explore the hyperarousal neurobiology of chronic insomnia, its bidirectional relationship with depression and anxiety, psychiatric comorbidities, HPA axis dysregulation, and the inflammatory cytokine profile that sustains the insomniac state.
- Behavioral and Pharmacological Mastery of Insomnia Treatment
- Apply CBT-I, sleep restriction, stimulus control, cognitive therapy, and intensive sleep retraining with clinical confidence, and evaluate the full pharmacological spectrum from benzodiazepines to orexin antagonists and melatonin agonists.
- Parasomnias, REM Behavior Disorder, and Sleep Deprivation
- Classify NREM and REM parasomnias from sleepwalking and sleep terrors to RBD and its association with synucleinopathies, and quantify the cognitive, cardiovascular, and behavioral consequences of acute and chronic sleep deprivation.
Venue, Hotels & Schedule
Also includes
Sleep in Healthcare
Gain advanced clinical command of sleep neuroscience, circadian biology, sleep disorder breathing, insomnia, and parasomnias across 15 CE credits.
$
$
(
$
The Carrick Institute team is ready to assist with enrollment, CE approval, or program planning. Email visit our CE Portal or Contact Us directly.