Become a Fellow

• Eligibility Requirements
• Certification Process & Dates
• Fellow Benefits
• Fellow Responsibilities
• Disclaimer

The Academy Fellow is a rigorous, initial credential for the dental practitioner who desires to become trained in Dental Sleep Medicine and who recognizes the need to develop the necessary introductory dental and medical knowledge and experience to attain proficiency in the treatment of sleep disordered breathing through the use of oral appliances.

After an Academy Fellow acquires more extensive experience in Dental Sleep Medicine and increases his or her sleep disordered patient base, he or she has the option to apply for Diplomate status in the ACSDD. Like Academy Diplomate training, all Fellows training will be conducted online on weekends.

Although the process to earn the Academy Fellow designation is similar to the Academy Diplomate process, the requirements are differentiated.

Eligibility Requirements

Be a current Member in good standing of the ACSDD;

Have been in post-graduate clinical practice for a minimum of five (5) years;

Hold valid dental licensure and certify as to liability coverage;

Have completed a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours of continuing professional education programs in Dental Sleep Medicine over the previous two years, with eight (8) hours in that total dedicated solely to Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMD);

Have completed a minimum of five (5) hours of observation in an AASM-accredited sleep laboratory over the previous year;

Have completed a minimum of five (5) hours of observation in the office of a sleep physician over the previous year;

Provide one (1) letter of recommendation from a licensed physician with whom the dentist has worked with on the management of one or more patients with sleep disorders;

Present ten (10) eligible clinical case studies, two (2) of which are extensively narrated and which include a post-treatment PSG;

Have submitted a Certification Portfolio (PDF provided below) which includes the documents as listed above and other requirements and which has been accepted by the ACSDD Portfolio Review Committee;

Have completed the ACSDD Fellows Exam-Prep & Exam-Refresher Seminar sessions.

The above requirements are not exhaustive but rather serve as a general guideline for interested individuals to review. If you have questions about Fellow status, the Certification Portfolio, the certification exam prep sessions, the exam, or fees, please contact Andrew, the ACSDD Director of Operations, at andrew@acsdd.org.

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Certification Process & Dates

Pre-Training Requirements
Before sitting for Fellows training and the Fellows exam, the interested ACSDD member must submit his or her completed Fellows Certification Portfolio (PDF below) 60 days in advance of the first training session. Once the Portfolio is reviewed and accepted by the ACSDD Portfolio Review Committee, the applicant will be notified of his or her eligibility to sit for the Fellows training and examination. The required reading list will be sent to the applicant at that time.

Fees
The fee for the review of the Certification Portfolio, the two online preparation sessions, all study materials, and testing is $1750.00 and must be submitted with the portfolio. A nonrefundable portfolio review fee of $300 will be charged if the portfolio is rejected.

Training & Examination Information
Fellows training is online on Saturday or Sunday.  Fellows training consists of one 8-hour session (Fellow Exam-Prep Seminar) and another 4-hour session (Fellow Exam-Refresher Seminar). These two sessions are separated by approximately six weeks.

Online Exam-Prep Seminar
This 8-hour session is divided into two 4-hour segments: the first covering dental sleep medicine information; the second covering sleep medicine information.

Online Exam-Refresher Seminar
This 4-hour session consists of 2 hours of dental and 2 hours of medical review.

Six Weeks of Study Time
The six weeks that separate the Exam-Prep Seminar and the Exam-Refresher Seminar allows the examinee to read and review all study materials. Examinees are invited to contact the instructors with any questions they may have during that study period.

The Fellow Certification Examination
Following the Exam-Refresher Seminar, the examinee takes the Fellow Certification Examination. It consists of 50 dental and 50 medical multiple-choice questions.

Fellow Certification Cycle 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012: Submission Deadline for Completed Fellow Certification Portfolio (PDF below)
Saturday, March 17, 2012: 8-Hour Exam-Prep Seminar (4 hrs medical / 4 hrs dental)
Saturday, April 14, 2012: 4-Hour Exam-Refresher Seminar (2 hrs medical / 2 hours dental) and 2-Hour Certification Examination

Registration is now open for the Fellow Certification Cycle.

 

The Fellow Certification Portfolio with instructions
and the necessary PDFs is available as a downloadable document:

If you have questions, please contact Andrew, the ACSDD Director of Operations, at andrew@acsdd.org.

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Fellow Benefits

As an Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorders Disciplines Fellow, the individual will be recognized as having completed a rigorous first-step credentialing process in dental sleep medicine.

In addition to recognition inside the Academy, the Fellow can be acknowledged outside the Academy in his or her dental practice through the addition of new procedures in dental sleep medicine in the dental practice, increasing the patient base and revenue.

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Fellow Responsibilities

Fellows must maintain their Academy membership yearly and provide the Academy with any change of office address. Additionally, it is critical to keep their email address current with the Academy because most of our communication to Fellows is via email.

While not required, additional training and education offered to the Fellow can result in achieving Diplomate status within the Academy.

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Disclaimer

The ACSDD provides medical/clinical/dental science education for dentists treating sleep disorders through the use of oral appliances. The ACSDD provides neither consultancy nor advice on particular patients and/or individual patient care decisions. The ACSDD is not responsible or liable for individual patient’s course of treatment, advice, diagnosis, drug, and device application or other information, services, or products. There is no substitute for a one-on-one evaluation by a competent healthcare professional, and specific information regarding any particular circumstance cannot be provided without such evaluation. The ACSDD advises and recommends that certified dentists consult with qualified licensed physicians in guiding treatment of individual patients. The ACSDD does not recommend or endorse dentists or physicians. Certification by the ACSDD evidences successful completion of the ACSDD coursework; it does not signify or imply any relationship whatsoever between the certified individual and the ACSDD. Certification shall have no presumed relevance with regard to third-party payers, legal proceedings, or other similar matters.