Dr. Joseph Krainin, MD, FAASM, founder of Singular Sleep, discusses his background in sleep medicine and shares advice for students interested in it.
- [01:12] How Dr. Krainin Is Changing Medicine for the Better
- [06:50] Sleep Disorders in Medical Training
- [10:41] The Varied Pathways in Sleep Medicine
- [14:27] Most Common Sleep Disorders
- [20:44] Advice for Med Students Considering Sleep Medicine
- [22:02] The Future of Sleep Medicine
Today, Chase DiMarco talks to Dr. Joseph Krainin, MD, FAASM. Dr. Krainin is the founder of Singular Sleep, the first-ever virtual sleep center that focuses on the remote diagnosis and management of sleep apnea. He is a board-certified neurologist and sleep medicine practitioner as well as a sought-after lecturer and commentator on sleep health. Dr. Krainin started Singular Sleep to help empower patients to take control of their health by providing access to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders at a fraction of the cost of the traditional method.
How Dr. Krainin is Changing Medicine for the Better
Dr. Krainin describes the inception of Singular Sleep as an epiphany. He realised that there was a better way to diagnose and treat patients for sleep apnea than was available at the time. The traditional model included the time and expense of doctor’s consultations, multiple referrals to sleep studies that could cost $6000 – $7000, trips to medical equipment companies and trips back to the doctor’s office for calibration.
Singular Sleep is simplifying that process and making it more “palatable”. Singular Sleep assumes that the patient is intelligent enough to know if they are at risk for sleep apnea and lets them order their own equipment for treatment. Patients can order a home test kit online, after undergoing a simple screening process. The home test kit contains the minimum amount of tools to allow Singular Sleep practitioners to accurately diagnose and prescribe treatment for a patient, as opposed to the gratuitous metrics used at sleep centers.
If a patient tests positive on the home test kits, they are then able to meet DR. Krainin online for a virtual consultation. During this consultation, Dr. Krainin reviews their results and treatment options to formulate a treatment plan with them. Patients generally opt for CPAP machines, and Singular Sleep supplies and manages the process. Some patients may choose to use their insurance and get their equipment elsewhere and in these cases, Singular Sleep provides them with a prescription to use as needed.
If a patient chooses to get their equipment through Dr. Krainin and SIngular Sleep, the machines are registered and the patients’ sleep can be monitored to determine the effectiveness of the therapy on the patients’ sleep. Ultimately, the objective of Singular Sleep is to maximise the effectiveness of the therapy by finding the right pressure for the patient; a task that can also be done remotely.
Sleep Health in Medical Training
Sleep disorders are one of the most common issues in primary care and crop up in many disciplines including pediatrics and psychiatry. Despite this fact, The average medical student gets one hour of training in sleep disorders in their four years of medical training, and sleep medicine hardly appears on board exams. Dr. Krainin’s advice to students is to advocate for sleep training in your program, adding that it is a valuable resource for any practice in any specialty.
Sleep Medicine Fellowship and Continuing Education
For med students not going into sleep medicine, but considering primary care or psychiatry, Dr. Krainin recommends getting some experience in sleep health and reading Sleep Medicine Pearls. This book by Dr. Richard B. Berry, the head of the Sleep Center at the University of Florida, is an ideal resource for physicians that are new to sleep medicine and provides essential information needed to care for patients with sleep disorders.
Sleep medicine is underserved all over the US, but Dr. Krainin predicts a paradigm shift towards more emphasis being placed on primary care following the pandemic. With primary care occupying a more prominent position in medicine, Dr. Krainin contends that sleep medicine will follow. Good primary care practitioners should be able to manage the simpler aspects of sleep care and should be familiar with CPAP, and what a CPAP data report looks like. They should also be able to assess the effectiveness of treatment and when a patient should be referred to a specialist.
Check out Dr. Krainin’s online sleep center Singular Sleep. Check out his LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles. Sign up for a Free Coaching session with Chase DiMarco, sponsored by Prospective Doctor! You can also join the Med Mnemonist Mastermind FB Group today and learn more about study methods, memory techniques, and MORE! Do check out Read This Before Medical School. Like our FreeMedEd Facebook page and find our Medical Micro Course, Blog posts, and Podcasts at FreeMedEd.org! Feel free to Email any Questions or Comments.
