About the Course

You’ve optimized the diet, balanced the hormones and supported the adrenals, and your patient is still exhausted. What if the missing piece is happening while they sleep? Airway First is an online course for naturopathic doctors on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB): what it is, how it hides behind the symptoms you treat every day, and how to recognize it in your practice. It’s taught by Angela Hoffman, RRT, CRE, a registered respiratory therapist with 20 years in sleep medicine and founder of NaviSleep Respiratory Solutions. The core message is simple: until breathing during sleep has been checked, everything downstream is working uphill. Check breathing first, and every other intervention you choose has a fair chance to work. What you’ll learn: Module 1 -  Sleep Architecture and Quality: what healthy sleep looks like, and why quality matters more than hours in bed. Module 2 - The Airway: what happens to breathing at night, and why poor breathing trumps every other sleep disruptor. Module 3 - SDB Through an ND Lens: how SDB shows up in blood pressure, blood sugar and weight, menopause, mood, inflammation and more. Module 4 - Who to Suspect, How to Screen, How to Refer: the patients to watch for, a two-minute screen using STOP-Bang, and a clear referral pathway. By the end, you’ll be able to:   - Spot the patients most likely to have SDB, including the ones who don’t fit the “classic” picture.  - Screen quickly and confidently in a regular visit.  - Know when and how to refer, so your patients get tested and treated, if necessary.

Your Instructor: Angela Hoffman

Angela Hoffman, RRT, CRE is a Registered Respiratory Therapist with 20+ years of experience in sleep and respiratory care, and the founder of NaviSleep Respiratory Solutions — a virtual sleep diagnostics and consultation company based in New Brunswick. Angela created this course to give naturopathic doctors an airway lens: what to look for, how to screen for sleep-disordered breathing in a regular visit, when to refer for testing, and how to support patients through the process. Sleep-disordered breathing is common, under-recognized, and very screenable in a naturopathic practice. NaviSleep provides multi-night, at-home sleep testing and virtual consultations across Canada, collaborating with sleep physicians and other healthcare providers to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time.

Course Curriculum

1 Chapter · 9 Lessons

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 1 - Sleep Architecture and Quality

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 1 - Knowledge Check

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 2 - From Snoring to Apnea: The Airway in Sleep

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 2 - Knowledge Check

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 3 - SDB through the ND lens

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 3 - Knowledge Check

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 4 - Who to Suspect, How to Screen, How to Refer

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Module 4 - Knowledge Check

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      NaviSleep Sleep-Disordered Breathing screening tool for NDs

Ready to Put Airway First?

Learn to spot sleep-disordered breathing, screen for it with confidence, and know when and where to refer. Everything else you do for your patients works better when they're breathing well at night.

$49.00

Enroll in the Course