Neurodiagnostic Week, April 18-24, is an annual campaign that serves to bring attention to and acknowledge the efforts of neurodiagnostic professionals around the world. This year in particular has been particularly challenging with the Coronavirus pandemic, as neurodiagnostic technologists (NDT) face additional challenges while remaining committed to providing a high-level of patient care.
NDTs, including those in the military, perform many tests that diagnose problems with the brain and nervous system, as well as sleep disorders. They use state-of-the-art digital equipment to record electrical patterns throughout the brain and nervous system, which result in valuable data that the doctor needs to diagnose and treat their patients. The data gathered from these tests can help diagnose conditions like epilepsy, other seizure disorders, strokes, degenerative brain disease, and traumatic brain injuries, among others. Military NDTs usually work in hospitals and clinics.
Military NDT training is conducted at the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Students in the METC NDT program arrive with a medical background, either as a Navy hospital corpsman or Air Force medical technician.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Shishido, service lead and instructor for the METC NDT program, is one of only 48 neuro techs in the entire military.
"The NDT career field is amazing to me," she stated. "We have the autonomy to work independently from a neurologist, and our studies can directly dictate the course of treatment and/or diagnosis."