The Neurodiagnostic Niche
Encouraging a community in the world of Neurodiagnostics
Outcomes…not Obstacles
Keep your face to the sun and you can’t see shadows. – Helen Keller
It’s easy to lose our focus during times like these. The uncertainty of change can often stop us in our tracks and derail our plans.
Our focus is what drives our outcome.
Put that vision of yourself front and center in your mind – it’s yours and yours alone.
It simply starts and ends with you.
Having trouble getting started?
Write down your goals.
Seeing them in front of you will help you stay accountable – it’s when we lose our focus that we lose our drive…this applies to just about everything.
If one of your goals is to get registered this year, I can help you:
- Follow my Complimentary Weekly Study Guide:
Research the terms/Review the Material/Repeat Daily
- Need a coach to support and motivate you? Enter your email at the bottom of this page to subscribe to receive new blog posts in your inbox. Also, click here to go back and review posts that you may have missed.
- Need additional learning support? Join a small group lesson for course work, questions and training. Students also receive guidance for clinical experience, suggestions and recommendations in the field.
For more information about how small group or private Zoom lessons work, just email: RTompkins@TompkinsAssociates.com
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow What We Know
Start Small…Go Big!
“Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded.” Mel Robbins
Last week’s post shared some fun facts about the history of Neurodiagnostics and one fact that I was hoping to highlight here is the one about registered EEG technologists.
At the time of this writing there are only 7501 of us in the world. That’s 7501 technologists since the exam was first started in 1963. For such a widely administered medical procedure, why in almost 60 years are there so few?
Just for comparative purposes the examination for sleep technologists (RPSGT) was first administered in 1979 and there are currently over 22,000 registered sleep technologists in the world.
Like anything in life, there are multiple factors that go into these statistics but the one that I am aiming to highlight here is the personal growth factor.
Hands down the best way for a technician to increase their income is to become registered in their field of testing.
ASET has created multiple pathways that allow for a variety of ways for a technician to sit for the examination. Once they take the exam the percentage rate for passing is pretty good!
The overall average pass rate for the last 2 years is around 82%…so your chances of passing the test is very good.
Click here for the 2018 pass rate statistics
Click here for the 2019 pass rate statistics
Because there are not a large number of technicians taking the test the individual pathway statistics can vary significantly from year to year but one observation of the statistics shows that there is not really a significant difference to the pass rate for those in formal END programs compared to those with an Associates degree but not in a formal program (Pathway III).
Wherever you are in your process….look for an avenue to take the exam.
Looking for a place to start?
Try looking through some earlier posts:
Your Year to Getting Registered
Don’t Let Setbacks Set You Back
It doesn’t matter where you start – Just.Start.
Don’t keep waiting – The best time is now.
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow What We Know.
That’s a wrap…
“We are not makers of history, we are made by history.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Just some quick fun facts as we wrap up Neurodiagnostics Week:
- 1924 – Calvin Coolidge was elected President, Jimmy Carter was born, the first Macy’s Day Parade was held…and Hans Berger, a German Psychiatrist inserted silver wires under his subject’s scalp (mostly used his children) and invented the EEG recording. He called it an Elektrenkephalogramm and first described the alpha rhythm showing how it suppresses when we open our eyes.
- 1934 – It’s real breakthrough into the clinical world when 2 patients with Absence seizures were studied at Harvard and because their seizures didn’t introduce movement artifact in the recording a clear 3Hz Spike and Wave complex was seen.
- 1937 – the first hospital based EEG lab was started with a 2 channel EEG machine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
- 1963 – the first EEG registration exam is administered for technicians. There are currently 7501 technologists in the world at the time of this writing that have passed the test. (Lol…my number is 2474 : )
- Although EEG is the most common test in Neurodiagnostics, the field also includes inter-operative monitoring, long-term monitoring, polysomograms, evoked potentials, and nerve conduction studies.
Pretty amazing how this test has evolved and how we can now conduct them in the comfort of patient’s own homes. Remembering how far we have come is inspiring for what is ahead.
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow What We Know
Need a break from the mundane? Make today great!
We are living through a moment that will be written about in the history books….you will tell your grandkids about the time the world shut down. Movies will retell the story for generations to come.
So, while we may be staying in place right now, we are going to come out on the other side…..what will that look like for you?
Stuck in a Procrastinating Mood?
Do a brain-dump….list out everything you want to get accomplished. Then make it a mission to check off at least one thing each day. Hint: we are most productive when we first wake up.
We don’t have to seize this opportunity and finish quarantine with something to show for it – but just small daily wins can go a long way towards helping us meet our long term goals. Keeping our minds active is just as important as eating well and exercising.
Don’t let your current circumstances derail your career plans…use this time to:
- Cross-train to a new testing modality.
- Prepare for your board exam – this is The.Most.Productive way to increase your income!
- Research.Read.Repeat
Access my complimentary Weekly Study Guide – be sure to not miss a week by adding your email below.
Interested in interactive training? Just email me at RTompkins@TompkinsAssociates.com for information about both Small Group and Private (Zoom) lessons or Click Here for more information.
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow what we Know
(photo credit to Nasa Images Gallery – explore the cosmos with their Astronomy Picture of the Day)
Limited Spots Available
After over 25 years in the field of Neurodiagnostics and multiple students since 2007; this part of my business – Student Training, is by far my favorite. I am now expanding my reach to students outside my immediate area and plan to still deliver the personal level of in-depth training they need.
Teaching online will allow me to reach a much wider audience than I would have ever been able to do in person.
Initially when I started to plan for offering my classes on-line I was in the process of converting my training materials to pre-recorded videos and slides; however, the events of the past month made me realize that people/students do not need any more passive viewing of information.
We need a dialogue, a connection, a personal interaction more than anything right now.
A Quick Summary of Options:
- Classes are available at the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Level
- Both small group and private lessons are available
- Courses are 40 minutes in duration and are taught using an on-line platform (Zoom) once a week
- Course material will be emailed ahead of the weekly lessons with follow up homework assessments
Click Here for more information or email RTompkins@TompkinsAssociates.com for Questions and to reserve your spot.
Are you following my Weekly Study Guide?
Click here for Week 3
Stay Curious…and Let’s Grow What We Know
On-Line Course Launch
Learning is an Experience. Everything else is just information. – Albert Einstein
I didn’t know that I liked teaching until I started to do it…
I have always really enjoyed the interaction, the sharing of knowledge and the story-telling that goes along with teaching…feeling like it’s a way of helping someone move forward and achieve the goals that they have set out for themselves.
And then the best part is when they in turn help their patients…knowing this is not just a one on one teacher-student experience but that it carries over to patients and then the benefits continue from there.
After over 25 years in the field of Neurodiagnostics and multiple students since 2007; this part of my business – Student Training, is by far my favorite. I am now expanding my reach to students outside my immediate area and plan to still deliver the personal level of in-depth training they need.
Teaching online will allow me to reach a much wider audience than I would have ever been able to do in person.
Initially when I started to plan for offering my classes on-line I was in the process of converting my training materials to pre-recorded videos and slides; however, the events of the past month made me realize that people/students do not need any more passive viewing of information.
We need a dialogue, a connection, a personal interaction more than anything right now.
A Quick Summary of Options:
- Classes are available at the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Level
- Both small group and private lessons are available
- Courses are 40 minutes in duration and are taught using an on-line platform once a week
- Course material will be emailed ahead of the weekly lessons with follow up homework assessments
- Courses are sold in 10 week increments
Small group and private lessons start this week!
Click Here for more information and to reserve your spot.
Are you following my Weekly Study Guide?
Click here for Week 2
Stay Curious…and Let’s Grow What We Know
Don’t let SetBacks – Set You Back
I’ve grown most not from victories, but from setbacks. If winning is God’s reward, then losing is how he teaches us… – Serena Williams
Time only allows us to connect the dots once we have experienced them. If only we could know for sure where we will all end up…but life doesn’t work that way.
Instead we have to make decisions based on the information that we currently have…but one thing that is important to remember:
Don’t allow setbacks to set you back.
Look at your circumstances as opportunities.
New this Week:
A weekly Study Guide to help you either stay on track with your learning or help you gauge where you are with your Board Preparation.
Click here to access the Board Prep Study Guide.
Use the questions that you know to help you feel confident in your abilities and use the questions that you don’t as a focus point for your studying.
- Research the topic in your book (if you don’t have one you need one – my recommendation is: Fisch & Spehlmann’s EEG Primer)
- Make Individual Note Cards
- Review them Daily
- Be sure to follow by adding your email below so you don’t miss a week.
It’s only possible to connect the dots once we’re on the other side…
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow What We Know
March Madness
I think we would all agree that the events of this month give all new meaning to the phrase March Madness.
Pandemic. Social Distancing. Flattening the Curve….we’ve introduced a lot of new terms into our vocabulary lately.
When the world seems out of control, focus on what you can control.
Our habits can keep us grounded.
But if you find you are being forced to develop new routines… make sure they are for the better.
Feeling restless? Step outside for a bit. Feeling overwhelmed? Seriously, watch this, its hysterical and so true!
Extra time on your hands and you have the goal of getting registered this year?
Re-read some of my earlier posts to help get on track:
Your Year to Getting Registered
I don’t think any of us knows what this looks like from the other side – but there is another side. In the meantime, let’s take good care of ourselves and those around us.
Also, if you like what your reading please take a moment to follow me via the email link on the bottom on this page. You can also find me to follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Photo credit for this post goes to NASA’s Image and Video Library that just made their images free to access to the public.
Why Wait?
“Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded.” – Mel Robbins
Make the most of the opportunities that you have right now.
Many people spend their whole life waiting for the right opportunity.
If you are waiting – it will never come. Instead let’s do the very best that we can, with what we already have right in front of us.
You never know what doors may open for you when you make the most of your current situation and circumstances.
The right opportunity is always the one you have right now, end of story.
Extra time on your hands with all of the recent cancellations? Use this opportunity to continue learning and improving. Check out these on-line resources to expand your current circumstances:
- Perhaps you are currently working in one modality of Neurodiagnostics but want to expand your skills into other areas…read about them here: ASET’s Guide to Neurodiagnostics
- Maybe you are really good at the technical component of your job but need to brush up on the clinical piece. Be more proficient in the different types of Epilepsy Syndromes and be sure to bookmark Epilepsy.com – you can read about them here: Types of Epilepsy Syndromes
- Perhaps you are wondering about additional work opportunities and the value of your career choice? Check out the over 500 job postings that are currently needed throughout the U.S: Indeed.com Neurodiagnostic Job Search
- And lastly, don’t forget to follow this page : ) If you haven’t already done so – please search for The Neurodiagnostic Niche on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and if you want new posts sent directly to your inbox – just enter your email at the bottom of this page to subscribe.
Let’s Stay Curious and Grow what we Know…
Time Flies
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Abraham Lincoln
I have a question for you…
Where were you 10 years ago?
2010 seems like such a long time ago but at the same time it seems like it was just yesterday.
I read this and liked it a lot, so wanted to share:
“Aim to be great in 10 years:
Build health habits today that lead to great health in 10 years.
Build social habits today that lead to great relationships in 10 years.
Build learning habits today that lead to great knowledge in 10 years.
Long term thinking is a secret weapon.” – James Clear
Read that again…
By now you are at least 2 months into your Year to Getting Registered.
You should have the test outline, a regular routine of good study habits, a textbook that you are reading and referencing, and you should have a decent stack of note cards or some other way you are organizing your review material. If not, take a moment to catch up and review back some of our earlier posts:
Your Year to Getting Registered
Next steps…
As you are continuing to prep for the exam be sure you are also properly documenting the appropriate number of tests you have completed. If you are taking the test using Pathway III or Pathway IV be sure to get started on the CEU’s that you will need. They will also help you in your preparation.
Not sure about these requirements?
Reference page 2 in the ABRET Handbook.
Keep at it this week or use this week to get caught up…and just for fun:
Write yourself a note to be opened in March 2030!
Registered Technologist | Business Owner | Encourager of a community helping others find their way in the world of Neurodiagnostics.
Business website: www.TompkinsAssociates.com
Blog: NeurodiagnosticNiche.com Training Academy: North Texas Neurodiagnostic Academy
The Neurodiagnostic Niche 