Would college credits be of value to you as an NDT Technologist?

We at ASET thought that perhaps the opportunity to have college credits awarded for our on-line courses would be helpful to technologists who are planning to work on advancing their careers by obtaining a college degree: either an Associates, a Bachelor’s or Master’s level, depending upon the current level of education each person may have.

So, we have spent the last two years working with the American Council on Education (ACE) to complete the application process to have them review our on-line course curriculums for approval for recommendation for college credits.  A couple of months ago, we proudly announced that we were successful! The American Council on Education has approved our courses, and they made the following recommendations:

·        EEG  101-112 plus proctored exam:  In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 11 semester hours in basic and clinical application of EEG.

·        NCS 101-112 plus proctored exam:  In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 8 semester hours in nerve conduction study

·        LTM 101-109 plus proctored exam:  in the upper-division baccalaureate degree category, 12 semester hours in long term  and neuro-critical care monitoring

·        IONM 100-110 plus proctored exam:  In the upper-division baccalaureate degree category, 20 semester hours in intraoperative neuromonitoring

Please note: You must have completed one of our full curriculums in order to receive the college credits as listed above.   It is also important to understand that each college sets its own standards and may use the ACE guidelines or not.  They can decline the request for college credits or award a different value.

What does all this mean?

This means that a national organization that is highly respected in the academic community has recognized our courses as a worthy educational resource at the college level.  It does not mean that every college you might apply to will award college credits if you have completed the ASET on-line courses.  That is up to the individual college.  These are only recommendations.  However, many colleges rely on the American Council on Education to make recommendations about all types of adult education and work related training.

Did you notice the stipulation about the “proctored exam”?  Let me explain.  The American Council on Education requires that anyone who wishes to obtain college credit recommendations must prove their successful course of study by taking a proctored exam covering the curriculum content.  The ABRET exam does not qualify as the “proctored exams”.   These exams must be custom arranged  for each individual to take place in your area.  Typical locations may include a local community or college library. The facility may charge a nominal fee for providing this service, in the $20-$30 range.   Please contact Maggie Marsh Nation to request arrangements for a proctored exam if you are interested in taking the proctored exam after completing one of our online curriculums.

By having our courses acknowledged by the American Council on Education, we are hoping that some employers may allow our course enrollees to use their tuition reimbursement benefit to pay for the course registration fees.  This has always been a difficulty for ASET, since we are not an “institution of higher education” and cannot be considered a college.  Please check with your hospital benefits department regarding their rules regarding tuition reimbursement, as we can’t assume this benefit will be approved for all course participants.
Here is a link to a page on our website that you may find helpful:
http://www.aset.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=4041

And here is a link to the American Council on Education listing which includes ASET:
http://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseaction=browse.main

Please contact Maggie or me if we can help you achieve your goals for a college degree by using ASET courses.

faye@aset.org     marshnation@stx.rr.com

How to deliver quality care to patients with epilepsy:

That is a quest that we can all share.

For the first time ever, ASET – The Neurodiagnostic Society will be hosting a one-day course at the 2013 American Epilepsy Society meeting in Washington D.C.  The date of the course is Sunday, December 8^th.  The course title is:  "Making an LTM/ICU Monitoring Program Work:  Technical Aspects"

This course is designed to be of interest to anyone who is involved in the planning and operation of a comprehensive epilepsy program, long term monitoring program, or an ICU continuous EEG program.  Physicians, fellows, residents, nurses and technologists are invited to attend.  When designing this course, I felt that there are some skills that we have built upon over the years, that have become our niche within the epilepsy care team, and we now have the opportunity to share this information with other caregivers.   Subjects we will be covering include:

·        How to configure a LTME unit, including equipment, networking for remote access and other design details to optimize the function of the unit, and ensure that files can be accessed by staff 24 hours a day, to allow for rapid interpretation and intervention when needed.

·        How to build quality improvement and daily communication into your patient care model to ensure patient safety and a customized LTME admission for each patient.  This will enhance your chances of capturing essential data as quickly as possible, to reduce prolonged admissions, which are difficult for the patient to endure and costly.  We will also discuss how to address the patient’s comfort, support and cultural needs throughout the admission.

·        Addressing concerns about skin breakdown during prolonged recording, selecting the optimal electrodes and application methods, determining how to edit files for review and archiving.

·        How to conduct a seizure assessment that will reveal essential information and assess loss of specific functions during an event, taking into consideration unique factors for each patient: cognitive ability, disabilities, language and cultural issues.

·        How to build a continuous EEG monitoring program for an ICU – equipment, staffing, enabling a variety of caregivers to assess the ongoing recording to determine the need for urgent intervention using innovative staffing models, trending software, and remote access to data.

We are able to offer this course for a flat rate registration fee of $120.  You do not have to register for the entire AES conference to attend this course.  We will accept registrations throughout the next month and even on-site.  You may read about this course complete the registration process via the  ASET website, at this link: ASET AES Course registration

There is no hotel room block associated with this course.  I suggest that you visit travel websites to seek the best price on a room, and keep in mind that this course is being held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, with easy access to the Metro transit system, so you may be able to find reasonably priced accommodations a bit further away from the convention center.

I am really excited about this course.  I hope to see you there!

Building Neurodiagnostic Education to address the shortage of qualified technologists

We have been aware of a nation-wide shortage of highly skilled technologists for a very long time.  In my role,  I get calls all the time from employers who just can’t find the techs they need to fill open positions and from people who would like to pursue a career in neurodiagnostics but who do not have access to a Neurodiagnostic Program in their area.  The on-line programs alleviate this problem somewhat, but there are very large areas of the country, covering many states, that do not have one single neurodiagnostic technology training program!  The on-line schools also have some difficulty recruiting out-of-state students who do not qualify for in-state student loans.

At this time ASET lists 30 schools in the USA, and 23 of these schools are currently CAAHEP accredited.
2011 is the last year that CAAHEP has statistics available regarding graduates of these programs, and that year 180 NDT technologists graduated.

The Washington Post currently has 778 Neurodiagnostic Technologist positions listed in their on-line job search website.  So, we are far from able to fill all job openings with our new graduates.

So, what to do?  How can we build more new programs?  The ASET Formal Education Task Force has created a “Dean’s Packet”.  This packet includes a cover letter addressed to a Dean, and a seven page document that provides an overview of pertinent statistics that a Dean would require to justify the opening of a new program.  The statistics include locations of current schools, salary statistics, ABRET exam statistics and other key facts that help to illustrate the state of our profession.  If you are aware of a community college in your area that might be willing to consider opening a new course of study, or has a grant or mission to address needs of the local community, and you would like to reach out to a Dean with this information, please contact me directly and I will send you a copy of the packet items via e-mail.

We are hoping to build a database of contacts at colleges that do not yet have a program in Neurodiagnostics, so any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated.

My e-mail address is: faye@aset.org and I welcome your comments, queries and suggestions.

Electroencephalography Veterinarian Style: EEG Recordings on Dogs and Cats

One of the abstract presentations at the ASET 2013 Annual Conference in Reno last month was particularly of interest to me as a dog lover and owner of two Labrador retrievers.  The title of the presentation was  “Electroencephalographic and Clinical Findings in 37 dogs and 4 cats.”  The author of the abstract was Dr. William Bush, V.MD, DACVIM, and his presentation was fascinating!

He showed videos of some of his canine and feline patients having clinical spells that could very well be seizures.  The confirmation of seizure activity has been a challenge in veterinary medicine, and for the most part, is done by clinical observation and pathology affecting the brain may be detected with MRI, and lab studies of the cerebral spinal fluid.  Dr. Bush explained that when these tests are positive, there is a greater chance that the EEG recording will be abnormal as well.  But in cases where there is no structural or infectious process to cause seizures, an EEG recording can be done and is very helpful.  His study included three patients who were diagnosed with non-convulsive status epilepticus based upon their EEG findings.

It is also interesting to contemplate exactly how an EEG can be done on cats and dogs.  Dr. Bush discussed the use of sedation and a small number of needle electrodes.

I actually have some experience with recording an ambulatory EEG on a dog.  In the past, when I was working at Children’s Hospital in Boston, I was contacted by a veterinary behavioral specialist from Florida, who was a consultant for a show dog: a standard poodle, living in New Hampshire, who had frequent spells which may represent seizures.  Since the animal was a show dog, the owner did not want to start prescription anticonvulsants unless the seizures could be documented.  She was seeking a neurodiagnostic technologist who would be willing to work with the dog to record an ambulatory EEG at the nearby state-of-the-art facility, “Angell Memorial Animal Center”.  That person would be me!

We coordinated a dedicated exam room at the veterinary hospital, a flight to Boston for the specialist, and the use of the ambulatory EEG equipment donated for the session by Digitrace.  We knew that the dog would need to wear a backpack with the ambulatory recorder so for a few weeks prior to the recording session, the owner placed a harness and backpack on the dog for several hours per day, to acclimate the dog to the device he would be wearing.

A team of helpers met the dog, Flair, the owner and the behavioral specialist on the appointed day.  Our team included a clinical applications specialist from Digitrace, a veterinary neurologist from Angell and myself and another tech from Children’s.  We were prepared to administer a sedative for lead placement.  I had brought disk electrodes, collodion, and an air compressor with me.  We decided to try applying electrodes without sedation first.  The owner held the dog’s muzzle still, made eye contact with the dog, and calmed him verbally, while I placed leads.  No problem!  Frankly, the dog was easier to work with than most 2 year olds!

The dog wore the equipment for 48 hours and stayed with the owner in a pet-friendly hotel nearby.  Once a day, she brought the dog to a Digitrace office to have the leads checked and regelled.  It took a while but eventually typical clinical events were recorded which correlated to EEG activity that could be electrographic seizures.

We videotaped the patient set-up and the owner videotaped the clinical events.  I presented this case study as an abstract at the ASET annual conference in New Orleans in 2002.

A picture of me with my poodle patient:

It is interesting to speculate that in the future, there will be more utilization of clinical EEG in veterinary practice.  My thanks to Dr. Bush for sharing this fascinating topic with us.  Many of the techs in the audience agreed with me and would like to hear more from him in the future.

The Future of Neurodiagnostics: ASET 2013 Keynote Address

So, our 2013 ASET Annual Conference in Reno kicked off with our Lewis Kull Memorial Keynote Address, given by Fred Lenhoff, who is with the AMA and on the Board of Directors for the Health Professions Network.  The title of his talk was  “The Future of the Health Care Workforce in America: Is it Supercalifragilistic Neurodiagnostic?”

He is a very animated and energetic speaker, and he used a new presentation software called “Prezi” that had a lot more motion than PowerPoint.  I plan on learning to use Prezi myself since it really livens up the visuals during a presentation!  He provided a broad overview of the status of health care in America and how allied health care fits in, and how it will likely fare in the future.  Here is a link to his Prezi to view some of the facts from his talk.  Just use the forward arrow to move through the presentation.http://prezi.com/6ovfdoue7bcc/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

He actually composed two songs for this presentation.  One was a rap song and the other was sung to the tune from Mary Poppins, “Supercalifragilisticexpealidosious”.   Just for fun, I have included the lyrics here.  I will be back with more substantial content soon.  I have lots of information to share with you since the annual conference, but I am tallying conference attendee evaluations right now, I am a bit busy right now!

Rap Song:

Electro neuro diagnostic

Just saying this phrase gets me all exhausted.

Neurodiagnostics is somewhat an improvement,

but I need more than than that if I'm gonna be grooving

with this brain field, I'm a dude not a brainiac,

Do y'all electrocute peeps in the cranium? That's wack!

I ain't no maniac, don't wanna do no lobotomy,

just starting out on my work-life odyssey.

And y'all, it's odd to see a field so fertile

with a name like something from Yertle the Turtle.

Dr. Seuss could've used some of these here semantics,

but in real life it comes across a wee bit pedantic.

Don't get frantic, this field's got potential,

it may be evoked (that's a joke), see, I get mental

when I get challenged, and the brain is the real deal,

lemme close to let you know y'all got job appeal.

(My note:  He was illustrating the difficulty with terms for our profession)

And Supercalifragilistic Neurodiagnostic:

Supercalifragilistic neurodiagnostic

when you're in this field you're used to verbal acrobotics.

EEG and LTM and CPT my goodness

37 dogs and then 4 cats you've got a mess, miss! (My note: he is referring to an abstract from our program).

Anesthesia aneuyrsm epilectic seizures,

nerve conduction neurologic metabolic features

Neuro ICU and polygraphic channel overlays,

magneto encephalo graphy i'd never ix-nay

Supercalifragilistic neurodiagnostic

when you're in this field you're used to verbal acrobotics.

I'm not Mary Poppins or a vonTrapp family member,

but I got a few words that I sure hope you will remember.

We got more modalities than you could shake a stick at.

We evoke potential, we could educate a dead rat.

We're an “asset” to our doctors, they would choose no other,

our patient care is tops we treat each one just like our mothers.

Supercalifragilistic neurodiagnostic

when you're in this field you're used to verbal acrobotics.

This tune is done, I'll shut up now, but first let me assure y'all,

I'm glad we've had this time together, now it's sayanora!