Electroneurodiagnostic Technology Was This Grad’s Path to Success

Back in 2018 Dana Vandermolen was recently divorced and needed to find a new career to support her family. She loved the medical field but wasn’t sure where to start. As luck would have it, the first cohort of the Electroneurodiagnostic Technology (ENDT) program opened at CNM just as she completed her prerequisites and everything fell into place.

“Before I went back to school I worked as an educational assistant for children with behavioral needs, so I was already familiar with some of the conditions diagnosed through ENDT,” she says. “My nephew also passed away at four weeks old due to a neurological disorder, and going into this field was a way for me to honor him, too.”

Dana excelled at CNM despite the challenge of going to school during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also continued to work full time and balanced her responsibilities as a single mom. She credits much of her success to the support she found at the college.

“The instructors at CNM were so willing to help and it was great to know that if I emailed them that I would get a timely and helpful response,” she says. “I was also really grateful for the financial support I received, like the Dolores and Ted Martinez Endowment Scholarship. I was juggling a lot with my divorce, school, and supporting my family, but my kids saw me pick myself up and find something that would help us all move forward, which was really special ”

In the program, Dana decided to become an EEG Technologist. An EEG, or electroencephalography, is a diagnostic test that helps physicians treat seizures and other neurological disorders like migraines, hydrocephalus, and brain bleeds. 

Even before she graduated, Dana was hired by Presbyterian Hospital as an EEG tech. After she graduated she decided to keep going and earned her bachelor’s in Health Sciences for EEG Technologists at Holy Cross University as well as a certification in Continuous Long Term Monitoring (CLTM), an advanced EEG credential. 

Today, Dana is a faculty member for the ENDT programs at CNM and Holy Cross University and continues to work as an EEG tech at Presbyterian. She’s also developing a CLTM certification program at CNM to help students prepare for the advanced credentialing exam.

In all of her work, Dana’s biggest goal is to encourage others to consider a career in ENDT. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the field of neurodiagnostic technicians will grow by five to eight percent over the next decade, which is well above the national average.

“There are so many reasons to consider pursuing a career in ENDT,” Dana says. “There is a nationwide shortage of qualified technicians so you’ll be able to find a job quickly and the pay is very competitive. There are also a lot of avenues you can take in this field ranging from monitoring a patient in the OR to remote monitoring that can be done from home. But most importantly, you get to serve as the voice for someone who can’t always tell you what’s wrong and help them live a more functional life, and that is truly amazing.”

Want to learn more about CNM’s ENDT program? Come to our information session on June 18 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the CNM South Valley Campus. Please email t[email protected] with any questions.