It’s time to discuss how obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has “entered the group chat” in ongoing conversations about obesity medications and other areas of clinical care, according to Katherine Dudley, MD, MPH.

Dr. Dudley, who is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital, will co-chair a panel of experts to discuss this theme for the second and final session of the Adult Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m PT on Wednesday, May 21, in the Moscone Center, Esplanade Ballroom (South Building, Upper Mezzanine).

The session includes three 25-minute presentations:

• OSA and Obesity Medications
• OSA in the Perioperative Setting
• Sleep and Critical Illness Survivorship

Time is set aside after the presentations for questions and discussion about the topics.

Dr. Dudley noted recent FDA approval of tirzepatide for sleep apnea treatment, along with other new tools for obesity therapy generally, has led to an impetus in “thinking about how these are intersecting with sleep management and what we are doing as sleep therapy providers—are we having discussions, are we writing prescriptions, are we aware of the literature? It is an exciting time to have another option in the toolbox, and we want to put that front in center for clinicians to think about and for researchers to consider how it fits in with advancing sleep research.”

She also shared that the session is designed to bring “high-yield” takeaways for experienced sleep therapy professionals, and will also benefit attendees who work in ICUs or other care settings.

“There should be a lot of applicable discussions that are relevant to caring for patients with delirium, for patients who are ageing, or for patients in the critical care setting,” Dr. Dudley said. “There will be cross-over for a wide range of clinicians and researchers.”

The objectives of the Adult Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum Symposia are to: integrate new sleep medicine guidelines into clinical practice, to equip clinicians to better counsel patients on treatment options available for sleep disordered breathing, and to identify knowledge gaps in the treatment of patients with sleep-related disorders.

“I hope the session spurs conversations about how sleep integrates into many areas, and allows attendees to explore up-to-date literature,” Dr. Dudley said. “Researchers will learn about gaps and opportunities in the field, and clinicians will feel more empowered at the bedside when they talk to and share information with their patients.”

The ATS Clinical Core Curriculum focuses on key topics in the areas of adult and pediatric pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. The topics are aligned with corresponding MOC Medical Knowledge modules and designed to help clinicians stay up to date with important information relevant to their medical practices and to provide an opportunity for clinicians to evaluate their knowledge and skills while earning MOC Medical Knowledge points.

Access to recorded video of all Symposia sessions is available to conference attendees for an additional add-on fee and to non-attendees (both members and non-members) through a Symposia Access or an All-Access Pass. For more details and to purchase a pass, visit https://conference.thoracic.org/program/conference-highlights. CME is not available for on-demand viewing.

For a full schedule of conference events, visit ats2025.d365.events. To see more conference-related news and coverage of sessions and events, visit atsconferencenews.org.