New degree focuses on electricity in the body
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - DeVry University is offering a new associate degree in applied science with the addition of the Electroneurodiagnostic Technology (ENDT) program this month.

ENDT professionals record and analyze electrical activity in the brain and nervous system. To prepare for their task, students in the program will complete general education and electrical instrumentation courses during their first two semesters, after which they will enroll in several specialized courses such as neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and correlative neurology at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison.

Students will be responsible for completing 1,440 hours of clinical rotations during their third, fourth and fifth semesters. They will rotate through electroencephalography, polysomnography, video monitoring, nerve conduction studies, stimulus-evoked and event-related potential recording, and intraoperative monitoring laboratories. They can also elect to study autonomic nervous system testing, oculography, pupillometry and neurophysiologic research.

Students who complete their clinical rotations successfully will then take certification exams through the American Board of Registration of Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential Technologists.

"As a provider of patient services in sleep testing and epilepsy diagnosis, we are acutely aware of how hard it is to find qualified technologists. Having a degree program that ensures consistent levels of competence and understanding of basic science will be enormously helpful," said Martin Gizzi, the chairman of the Neuroscience Institute.

ENDT graduates often find careers in private neurology practices, acute care hospitals, sleep study laboratories, university research centers and private health-care companies. They are able to diagnose neurological problems and test them through EEGs, long-term epilepsy monitoring, evoked potentials, nerve conduction studies, sleep studies and intra-operative monitoring.

"Electroneurodiagnostic technology is a fascinating and potentially very rewarding occupation for anyone interested in working at the intersection of technology and health care. DeVry University, with its well-known electronics programs complemented by solid general education, will prepare students to undertake intensive didactic and clinical work," said Chris Grevesen, the dean of academic affairs at DeVry. "[Our] new associate degree program in ENDT fills a critical need in our region for health-care technologies capable of administering neurophysiological tests that aid physicians in diagnosing disorders of the brain and nervous system."

For more information, contact DeVry at www.devry.edu. The campus is located at 630 Route 1 south.