General Practitioners

• Pediatric Care
• Primary Care
  . It is your responsibility to understand your insurance policy. If your insurance plan requires that you have a referral from your primary care physician in order to see a specialist or to have a study then you must have the referral available at the time that you call to schedule and you must bring it with you to your visit. Acquisition of the referral is your responsibility. If you arrive for a visit without a proper referral you will not be seen and will be responsible for a late cancellation fee, unless you opt to be seen on a fee-for-service basis outside the auspices of your insurance company and pay for your visit. Please be responsible and obtain your referral on a timely basis and be sure to bring it with you.
• Sleep Disorders
  At The Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders, we believe that the exploration of innovative treatments and new medications for sleep disorders is essential to the growth of the field. Our participation in research studies keeps us on the forefront of sleep-related healthcare and allows us to offer our patients pioneering treatments for their disorders, if they wish to participate.

Ophthalmologists

• Glaucoma
  A good night’s sleep has a positive impact on life and activities of daily living. Many disorders of sleep and wakefulness result in daytime tiredness or sleepiness which may not be well understood by others. Frequently, patients with sleep-wake disorders are thought of as lazy and unmotivated by colleagues, family members, and friends. This creates an additional burden for the patient. Sleep disorders may masquerade as depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, attention deficit disorder, and sexual dysfunction. Sleep disorders can result in a significant negative impact on work performance and social relationships. Certain sleep disorders may increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, reflux and glaucoma.

Gynecologists

• Gynecology
  , argues that the old OB-GYN model doesn’t always benefit patients — and that younger doctors’ reluctance to be on call 24/7 may well be a good thing for both patient and practitioner.
• Obstetrics
  , according to the Society of Hospital Medicine, and many work set hours for a fixed salary. Their pay is often 15% to 20% higher than what primary-care doctors make. The vast majority are generalists, but a growing number are trained in obstetrics and other fields.

Internists

• Internal Medicine
  Linda Croom (pronouns: she/her) joined The Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders in 1998. Linda graduated from Mary Washington College with a BS in Biology and obtained her BS in Nursing from George Mason University. She worked at Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington Hospital) for ten years in medical-surgical nursing, advancing to the position of head nurse. Linda’s interest in the delivery of direct patient care led her to return to school, completing her Masters degree in Nursing from George Mason University and Nurse Practitioner requirements in collaboration with the George Washington University. As a Nurse Practitioner Linda worked for 3 years in a busy internal medicine practice in Fairfax, Virginia before her desire to specialize came to fruition when she joined Dr. Emsellem and The Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders. Linda has found that working as a Nurse Practitioner in Sleep Medicine is continually challenging and very rewarding. Linda brings a warm, caring style to the practice and is gratified by the high percentage of patients who experience a major improvement in quality of life when their sleep disorders are treated. Linda has been actively involved in our research efforts studying investigational treatments for sleep disorders. She has been the Study Coordinator for several research protocols, assisted in the training of our current research staff and has functioned as a sub-Investigator on many studies. In her spare time, Linda enjoys raising her son, gardening, biking, swimming, and dinner parties.

Neurologists

• Neurology
  Dr. Emsellem has a great love for patient care, teaching and a long-standing interest in Sleep Disorders Medicine. After graduating from the George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine she completed a rotating internship that included Psychiatry, Internal Medicine and Neurology. She was intrigued with the complexity of brain function and decided to pursue a career in Neurology. She completed her Neurology residency training at GWU and sub-specialty training in Epileptology and Clinical Neurophysiology at Johns Hopkins University. She then returned to GWU in an academic career track in the Department of Neurology. Over the ensuing 11 years she enjoyed her role as an academic Neurologist with patient care responsibilities and as the Neurology Residency Training Program Director, Director of the EEG Laboratory and Director of the Neurology medical student teaching program and established the Sleep Laboratory at GW, the second at the time in Washington, DC. Her academic career blossomed and she was promoted to Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology and won student teaching awards. She is a member of the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha. During her final year at GWU Dr. Emsellem was the Acting Chairman of the Department of Neurology. Today Dr. Emsellem continues to play an active role teaching at GWU in the medical school neurology curriculum, preceptoring Neurology Residents, Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner students who rotate through her office as part of their training, and lecturing nationally on topics in Sleep Medicine.
• Autism
  If you are interested in obtaining more information regarding participation in one of our ongoing research studies please contact our research staff at 301-654-5665 or e-mail research@sleepdoc.com. We are happy to discuss with you further, and provide you with an informed consent with more details about each trial.  We can start with a phone screening if you are interested.

Psychiatrists

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  Dr. Emsellem says that it is important to be aware of the symptomatic overlap between ADD/ADHD and sleep restriction. “Difficulty with attention, focus and concentration are key symptoms of both sleepiness and ADD/ADHD. The presence of sleep restriction will aggravate ADD/ADHD symptoms. If the worsened symptoms are managed with higher medication doses rather than with the much needed sleep then symptoms may snowball.”
• Depression
• Psychiatry
  And for years, sleep scientists thought they knew what was going on: sleep starts to deteriorate in late middle age and steadily erodes from then on. It seemed so obvious that few thought to question the prevailing wisdom.Now, though, new research is leading many to change their minds. To researchers’ great surprise, it turns out that sleep does not change much from age 60 on. And poor sleep, it turns out, is not because of aging itself, but mostly because of illnesses or the medications used to treat them. “The more disorders older adults have, the worse they sleep,” said Sonia Ancoli-Israel, a professor of psychiatry and a sleep researcher at the
• Insomnia

Dermatologists

• Ulcer
  If you have any persistent pink/red marks on your face from the mask, please let us know as soon as possible. If you continue to wear your mask with this degree of irritation, you may end up with an ulcer/scab/scar on your face that could have been prevented with a mask adjustment or refitting. Our daytime sleep technologists are very skilled at mask adjusting and is quite available to address this issue, should it arise.