As a medical student, Ashley Miller, MD, received a piece of advice that she took to heart: choose a field that you enjoy reading about, since you’ll be reading about that subject for the rest of your career. Several years later, she’s still enjoying reading about and practicing sleep medicine as a fellow within the Duke Neurology Department. For this week’s “spotlight” interview, Miller talks to us about being able to improve the quality of life for her patients, her future plans for treating adults and children with sleep disorder, and enjoying practicing the flugelhorn, lap swimming, and time at her local church when she’s not at work.
What are your current responsibilities as a sleep medicine fellow?
Currently, I am honing my skills in reading sleep studies and am seeing patients in clinic. Occasionally I see inpatients with sleep disorders as well.
What does a typical day look like for you?
On a typical day, the mornings involve sleep study reading and sleep study report-writing. I review my assigned sleep studies on my own before joining my attending and a scribe (shoutout to Alexis Shindhelm, who is amazing!) on Zoom. We go over all of the previous night's sleep studies (not just the ones assigned to me). After that session, I write my assigned sleep study reports. In the afternoons, I spend time in clinic.
How and when did you get interested in sleep medicine?
I became interested in sleep medicine during my pediatrics residency and had a wonderful pediatric sleep medicine mentor with whom I was able to complete my third-year continuity clinic and work on a telemedicine project.
What do you find particularly appealing or fulfilling about sleep medicine?
The best thing about sleep medicine practice is that improving patients' sleep quality and/or quantity has a positive impact on virtually every other aspect of their health as well.
What plans do you have for after you complete your fellowship?
Though still awaiting a formal contract, I have accepted a 100% sleep medicine position with Atrium Health in the Charlotte, NC area. I'll be seeing both adults and children with sleep disorders in an outpatient-only setting.
If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
I absolutely love sleep medicine so would probably stick with that, but with the additional feature of working remotely via telemedicine.
What’s one experience from your time as a fellow so far that’s been especially memorable or useful for you?
Hearing how much patients' quality of life is improved after starting medication for hypersomnia (including narcolepsy) has been especially impactful to me because those patients can truly miss out on so much of life before their disorders are adequately-treated.
If you could offer one piece of advice to a medical student or resident interested in sleep medicine, what would it be?
The best advice I was given as a medical student regarding choosing a field of medicine was to choose that about which I most enjoyed reading because whatever I chose, I'd be reading about it for the rest of my career. It was my psychiatry attending who gave that advice. She said she loved performing surgery, but hated reading surgical journals. She liked reading about psychiatry, however so that is what she chose to do, and she was happy with her decision. I enjoy reading about sleep disorders so studying for boards or just to learn something new in the field is not a drudgery.
What are you most looking forward to once the COVID-19 pandemic is over?
I'm most looking forward to not having to wear masks! So much of social interaction is lost when we cannot see each other's faces.
What other passions or hobbies do you have outside of the Department?
My husband and I enjoy being involved in our church (Liberty Baptist Church). I play the flugelhorn (similar to a trumpet) in the orchestra there. I also enjoy lap swimming (though access to pools has obviously been quite limited in the past year).
Miller enjoys a hike with her husband.