Q: What's a typical workday like for you?

A: Most sleep studies are conducted at night, so I start my workday at 7 p.m. I review patient histories and physician orders, and I also discuss the procedure with each patient. Over the duration of the study, I monitor brainwaves, eye movements, muscle tone, limb movements, respiratory effort and oxygen levels to determine if there are any sleep disorders. If the disorder is severe enough, we will begin looking for treatments that very night.

Q: How does your role fit into the bigger healthcare picture?

A: Sleep affects every part of the body. Some estimate that around 22 years of our lives are spent asleep. It is important to be sure we are experiencing healthy, restorative sleep because unhealthy sleep can exacerbate, or lead to many other medical problems.

Q: Who do you interact with during the course of the night?

A: We interact primarily with our patients and other sleep techs on the night shift. I write a report based on my findings, a day sleep tech will further analyze the study noting his or her findings, and finally an interpreting sleep physician uses all this information to make a final call on the diagnosis and/or treatments.

Q: Why did you become a polysomnographic technologist?

A: Sleep medicine is a rapidly changing field. There are always new things to learn and new ways of addressing sleep disorders to keep things interesting.

Q: What do you like about your work?

A: By the time many of our patients come to see us, their sleep disorders have had a significant impact on their lives. Some have had motor vehicle accidents; others haven't slept in the same room as their spouse in maybe 10 or 15 years. Often, we can make a huge impact on someone's life literally overnight, which makes this work rewarding.