School of Clinical Neurophysiology Graduates Find Success
- Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s School of Clinical Neurophysiology has graduated many recognized leaders in the field of electroneurodiagnostic (END) technology throughout the United States.
- END students receive the instruction necessary to perform testing procedures that are essential for the clinical investigation of neurological, neurosurgical and sleep disorders. Students also gain the technical skills necessary to operate sophisticated END equipment in a variety of settings.
- END technologists earn competitive entry-level salaries with great employment opportunities at hospitals, physicians' offices, and businesses providing medical and surgical equipment.
- Graduates can apply course credits towards associate’s or bachelor degrees in allied health at surrounding area colleges and universities.
Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s School of Clinical Neurophysiology has graduated many recognized leaders in the field of electroneurodiagnostic (END) technology throughout the United States.
Founded in 1973, the School of Clinical Neurophysiology is one of only 21 Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in the United States.
“Electroneurodiagnostics offers doctors and patients alike the opportunity to obtain vital information about the function of the peripheral and central nervous systems,” says Violet Long R. EEG/EP. T., R.PSG. T, director of Neurological Services and the School of Clinical Neurophysiology at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. “Trained technologists learn how to apply, record, and recognize waves and patterns. They perform EEGs, polysomnograms, long-term monitoring, nerve conduction studies, intraoperative monitoring and epilepsy monitoring,” she adds. “END technologists can determine if patients are awake, asleep, what stage of sleep, conscious, or comatose. In the OR, they stimulate and monitor nerves to ascertain that pathways remain intact while different surgeries take place. Recording brain waves enables physicians to determine if patients are having seizures,” Long explains. “And the best part is that most of the procedures they perform are noninvasive.”
END students receive the instruction necessary to perform electroencephalographic, polysomnographic, and evoked potential testing procedures that are essential for the clinical investigation of neurological, neurosurgical, and sleep disorders. These disorders include: epilepsy, brain injuries, stroke, brain tumors, “brain death,” insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and multiple sclerosis just to name a few. Students also gain the technical skills necessary to operate sophisticated END equipment in a variety of settings, including operating rooms and intensive care units.
Lisa Simmonds, a 2010 graduate, learned of the END program from Crozer’s website and chose to attend after some of her mutual friends graduated. “I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about the medical field,” Simmonds says.
“The most important takeaway from this program was passing my boards in EEG and EPs,” she adds. “The program offered me a well-paying job with good skills. I would highly recommend this program, and I already have.”
After graduation, Simmonds worked at Albert Einstein Hospital and is now a registered EEG, EP technician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Heather Abbott, another 2010 graduate, heard about the school from her sister, who attended Crozer’s radiology program a few years earlier. Heather chose to attend this school because she was having trouble finding work with a degree in criminal justice. “I didn’t want a desk job any longer. I wanted to work hands-on helping people,” she says. “One of the best and most helpful aspects of the school is the fact that we rotated through several different hospitals. It gave us the opportunity to work with many different techs and to learn the ways different labs operate. I was able to take a little bit from each lab/tech and combine all of the skills that I learned from them.”
“What I enjoyed most about this program was having the help and support of my classmates,” Abbott continues. “The class size was small – my class had nine – so you become very close with each other and it was almost like having nine other teachers to help you get through it all. Having a smaller class also allowed us to have a close relationship with the instructors as well,” she explains. “I would definitely recommend this school and the END program to others.”
After graduation, Abbott took a job with Sentient Medical Systems as an EEG technologist. “Prior to graduation I passed my EEG boards and once I started working in the field I also passed my EP boards,” Abott says. She is currently employed as an EEG technologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Except for a few of the sleep techs, all of the technologists who perform these procedures in the Crozer-Keystone Health System were trained at this school,” Long says. “Our students are currently employed at HUP, Hahnemann, Jefferson, CHOP, DuPont and many other hospitals in New Jersey and Delaware. They are working throughout the United States and are recognized as leaders in the field of END technology.”
Students who complete this program successfully are eligible to apply course credits toward an associates or bachelors degree in allied health at Widener University or an associate’s degree in applied science at Delaware County Community College. The School of Clinical Neurophysiology is currently accepting applications for the next 18-month seated program beginning in January 2012. More information can be found on Crozer-Keystone’s website, www.crozerkeystone.org, under the “Healthcare Professionals” tab.