Sleep health manager application requirements

Applicants must be over 18 years old, have a technical secondary school degree or above, and have experience or learning background in health, nursing, psychology and other related industries.

A while ago, I helped a friend who opened a sleep therapy studio sort out the application materials. She graduated with a major in Chinese language and had been a mindfulness meditation guide for three years. She had no medical background at all. She applied for certification from the China Health Management Association and passed the preliminary review directly. But at the same time, another public health nurse who worked in a community hospital wanted to take the certificate issued by a unit under the Talent Exchange Center of the National Health Commission. She was asked to provide a nurse practitioner certificate and proof of work in a sleep-related position for more than six months. Neither of them could be applied for.

To be honest, there is actually quite a lot of controversy over the application threshold in the industry. One group of practitioners with a medical background believes that sleep health management will involve preliminary screening of sleep disorders to some extent. If there is no medical knowledge at all, it is easy to treat pathological insomnia, sleep apnea and other problems that require medical treatment as ordinary emotional sleep problems, giving blind guidance and delaying medical treatment. Therefore, they insist that professional backgrounds related to medicine, nursing, and psychology must be required before applying. The other group are practitioners who provide consumer-level sleep services, such as home sleep program design, adolescent sleep habits guidance, and maternal and infant sleep guidance. They do not involve medical intervention in the first place. They only provide suggestions for lifestyle adjustments for ordinary people. There is no need to have a medical background. As long as they have mastered basic sleep knowledge and screening boundaries through systematic training, they will be qualified. Both arguments are actually valid, but it really depends on what you use the certificate for.

Don't listen to some admissions agencies boasting about "zero threshold application" and "certificate included". A certificate that really doesn't have any requirements will most likely have little value. I met a student two years ago. I spent more than a thousand to sign up. The certificate I got was issued by a small association I had never heard of. When I went to interview for a sleep product user operation position, the HR didn't recognize him at all. It was a waste of money and time. If you want to take an exam that can be used, give priority to the background of the issuing unit: If you plan to enter relevant positions in the medical or public health system, or cooperate with medical institutions on sleep-related projects, choose a certificate issued by a unit under the health care system. Generally, you must have a technical secondary school or above in a medical-related major. For non-related majors, you must have a college degree or above plus more than 1 year of relevant experience, and you must complete more than 40 hours of professional training as required before you can apply. ； If you are just empowering your existing job, for example, if you are doing housekeeping, maternal and child care, fitness coaching, or psychological counseling, and want to add value-added services such as sleep guidance, a certificate issued by the Head Industry Association is enough. Generally, as long as you are over 18 and have a technical secondary school degree or above, even if you have no relevant background, you can apply for it after completing the training course, and there are not so many twists and turns.

Finally, a little reminder. If you are not sure whether you can apply, just send your academic qualifications and work experience to the intended certification unit or formal authorized training institution. Don’t guess on your own. Don’t believe the anxious marketing that institutions send out every day, “If you don’t apply next year, the threshold for majors will be raised.” At least in the past year or two, there will be no major changes in the application threshold for this certificate. Just choose according to your needs. There is no need to sign up for a useless certificate just to get the “last train”.