SUNY Grant Allows Polysomnography Program to Expand Through Distance Learning

August 19, 2022

Those interested in becoming polysomnographers – licensed sleep study technicians – around New York State, will have a new opportunity starting next year.

Thanks to a SUNY High Needs Grant for Allied Health Professions, the college’s Polysomnography A.A.S. degree program will, over the next year, develop and promote a hybrid option for its coursework. According to Department Chairperson Patty Hyland, the coursework will include online lectures, hands-on lab work with affiliated sleep centers around the state and intensive weekend sessions offered four times per year on campus in Troy.

“We want to offer the program in a format that can be completed in any area of New York State where Hudson Valley has established affiliation agreements with sleep labs,” Hyland said.

Hudson Valley is one of only two Polysomnography associate degree programs statewide, and, according to Hyland, sleep centers across the state are in desperate need for licensed sleep study technicians.

The college is now setting up affiliation agreements with sleep centers on Long Island for an incoming class of students to begin in fall 2023. In fall 2024, the program would expand to western New York. The hope is to continue to expand into more remote areas of the state where this training is needed, and eventually have 25 students enrolled in the new option.

SUNY High Needs Grant funds will pay for curriculum development, faculty travel to locations around the state where affiliate sleep centers are located, and housing for students to visit campus for three weekend sessions in 2024. Total grant funds are $41,000.

“Many sleep labs downstate and in western NY have already contacted us to express an interest in developing an affiliation with our program,” Hyland said. “This is our solution to help them expand the number of trained and licensed professionals available to staff their facilities.”