Greetings to all the neurodiagnostic techs, physicians and ASET members who are reading my blog
This will be my final blog entry as Director of Education for ASET. On May 17th I will be retiring from this most wonderful of jobs! It was a great run at 14 years! I am grateful to all of my ASET friends for helping me in so many ways! There were countless times when I sought someone to give a presentation on a specific topic and there was always someone willing to step up to the podium, sometimes as a last minute replacement for a speaker. This week I will be celebrating my 68th birthday, and I started working at the age of 15, scooping ice cream at the local dairy stand. Work of some sort has been a part of my life ever since. I went to a one year school for EEG technology in 1978 and knew then that I had found my calling! I loved everything about this work! I loved getting to know patients and spending time with them, since EEGs take a while and you have to get a good history and keep patients relaxed with good conversation. I loved seeing the first pages of the EEG after finishing lead placement, always a surprise to see an abnormality when you really didn’t think it would be an abnormal study! The only thing that I did not like was the ink and the way the pens would get blocked. I often had black ink on my hands and on my lab coat from cleaning the pen system. You didn’t have to drag me into the era of the digital EEG!
What I really loved about working in clinical neurophysiology was the sheer variety of daily work! In one day, the work included doing four or five EEGs, some out-patients, some in-patients, sometimes to the ICU or neonatal ICU, somedays to the O.R. with an LTM patient. I have always said, this career offers so many choices for career paths that you can find your special niche.
If you want to read the ASET newsletter article from the Spring 2019 issue about my retirement, please use this link: https://newsletter.aset.org/tribute-to-faye-mcnall-aset-director-of-education-2005-2019/
Thanks so much to Maureen Carroll and Anna Bonner for writing this article and thanks to all ASET members who contributed a tribute for the article. You guys had me crying for sure!
Linda Kelly, R.EEG/EPT, RNCST, CNCT, BS will be the new ASET Director of Education and she will do a fantastic job. It gives me great joy to turn the reins over to her, knowing that she will be dedicated to making ASET’s Education the best that it can be! She has been training with me for some time and has some great ideas for the future.
I will get to see all of my ASET friends at the 2019 ASET Annual Conference in Kansas City! I am honored to be presenting the Kathleen Mears Lecture: The View from here: A Perspective on Neurodiagnostic Technology.
From my abstract…
“Over the past fourteen years, in my role as ASET’s Director of Education, I have had the unique opportunity and privilege of communicating with many people every day, from across the country, to across the globe. The diverse range of callers include neurodiagnostic technologists, physicians, and those seeking advice to enter this field. My presentation will include a reflection on the many questions asked, and most pressing concerns shared with me. Based on the “top ten” questions asked by callers, I have determined the key trends and concerns related to the practice of Neurodiagnostic Technology. Key workforce issues and supporting data will be included. I will also provide suggestions for resources that can be used to address those questions. When contemplating the overall message that becomes apparent in reviewing the years of conversations, I find that there are many uplifting and inspirational thoughts to be shared.”
Signing off until then,
Sincerely,
Faye Mc Nall, M.Ed, R.EEG T.
