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ENN-ICS project and Master Degree in Sleep Sciences
Sleep is a complex, multifunctional and ancestral function. We have been sleeping like all the other animals for millions of years and throughout evolution this behaviour has guaranteed survival, even though it carries some risks.
Sleep deprivation, the elevated rates of insomnia and high medication consumption are afflicting modern societies.
Cutting out sleep duration carries elevated risks for individual and public health. It’s related to a higher risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, hypnotic consumption, performance and memory problems and accidents.
For children the risks are even higher since all the anabolizing hormones that favour growth are secreted during sleep.
Sleep deprivation in childhood is associated with learning problems, depressive symptoms and an increased risk of insomnia in adulthood.
Sleep disorders are common. From the 81 already classified syndromes, some have a very high prevalence in the general population. Moreover insomnia occurs in many medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders.
For all this Sleep Medicine is already a reality in the USA, some European and Asian countries. Sleep Sciences are multidisciplinary; they include Molecular Biology and Genetics, Instrumentation and Engineering, Psychology, Sociology and Medicine. Sleep Sciences have enormous influences in transport and telecommunication industries, in work schedules planning, pharmaceutical industry, education program planning an, of course, in medicine.
All the above stated is on the basis of development of the Sleep Sciences Master Degree of the Lisbon University Medical School. It was the first Master degree in Sleep Sciences organized in the whole world, its third edition is currently being prepared and is already a worldwide reference. It has been a successful experience, with a great impact in future professional training, with high quality standards.
This lead to the conception and implementation of a European project that could contribute for establishing a network and some structures necessary for Sleep Sciences learning.
ENN-ICS Project, sponsored by the UE – Ten Telecom, project 517418, has implemented a sophisticated e-learning system: the system integrates tools for authors, a Content management System (CMS) and a Learning Management System (LMS). The ENN-ICS site (www.ennics.org) offers direct access to medical information to health professionals and patients. The e-Health service includes teaching courses in virtual teaching rooms and online information.
This implementation was ruled by high quality standards: the DISCERNS questionnaire; the HON (Health on the Net) principles were used to test the credibility and accuracy of the medical information accessible on the website. The Criteria Catalogue for Electronic Publications in Medicine developed by the German Society of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS) was used to validate the quality of contents, the technical aspects, software engineering, ergonomics, design and didactic aspects.
Finally a test on real settings was performed: the system was validated and tested by Portuguese, German and Swedish users that considered it a high quality system.
Obeying to the diversity criteria underlying the European concept, this system is Multilanguage, and is currently implemented in Portuguese, English and German until it is translated into other languages in the future.
The gathering of the concepts underlying the Master degree and the ENN-ICS project has lead to a happy integration. The new master degree has a modern learning model that includes traditional techniques, elearning, individual learning, journal club and continuous and test evaluation. There will be diversified faculty: there will be tutors that will individually monitor the students learning process, foreigner expects will be invited to explain specific topics.
It is an unique experience, open to participants from all over the world, for which the conception and work of FML and CENC teams was crucial.
The long-term benefits include the training of teams that will have specific social skills
- Patient treatment
- Professional networks
- Standardized high quality training of professionals
- Health problems and accidents prevention
- Behavioural counselling
- Enterprise and institutions schedule organization.
- Implementation and testing of new technologies
- Information of patients and citizens
- Disease observatory/monitoring
- Basic and applied research
We thus foresee the huge national and international impact and importance of the conjoint meeting: the Opening Session of the 3rd Master degree in Sleep Sciences and the Closing Session of a successful European project, that will occur on the 2nd of March at the University of Lisbon Medical School (FML) in presence of many National and European recognized personalities.
For more information please visit the website of the 3rd Master Degree on Sleep Sciences .
Created: ENN-ICS consortium
Date:
2006-12-14
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