Having always had an interest in neuroscience and a love of the beach I decided to set about finding a placement. I’d always had an interest in sleep and when I contacted leading professors at The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney I was instantly drawn in by some of their recently publications.
Six months in and I am certainly not regretting my decision to move half way across the world to do my placement abroad. I have spent my PTY helping with a clinical trial that focuses on developing new treatment strategies for patients with obstructive sleep apnea who can’t tolerate current treatment methods such as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a condition which causes periodic partial or complete closure of the upper airway during sleep, this causes a drop in blood oxygen levels and sleep fragmentation. The prevalence of sleep apnoea is increasing due to the obesity epidemic as this is one of the risk factors. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, depression and an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents. As many patients are intolerable to the gold standard of treatment, CPAP, our study is a factorial clinical trial assessing both the effects of a low GI/high protein diet Vs low calorie diet and the use of a placebo Vs a wake promoting drug.
I have learnt many skills during my PTY such as effectively recording and reading EEGs and ECGs. I have learnt a significant amount about the design of clinical trials and the interpretation of medical statistics. The Woolcock Institute traditionally has weekly seminars on respiratory and sleep medicine with guest speakers which has taught me a lot about this area of medicine. I have had the chance to investigate a niche area of medicine looking at chronobiology, REM disorder behaviour, narcolepsy and delayed sleep phase disorder. The main aspects that I have enjoyed about my PTY is interacting with the patients and living in Australia.
Joelle Booth
The Woolcock Institute of Sleep Research: http://woolcock.org.au/