Polysomnography Program

Polysomnography Program

East Tennessee State University offers a Polysomnography Certificate Program through the School of Continuing Studies. The certificate program prepares the student with Internet-based online didactic lectures and hospital-based clinical practicums to gain entry into the work force as a polysomnographer.

Polysomnography is an overnight test to evaluate sleep disorders. It generally includes monitoring of the patient's airflow through the nose and mouth, blood pressure, electrocardiographic activity, blood oxygen level, brain wave pattern, eye movement, and the movement of respiratory muscles and limbs.

Role of the Registered Polysomnography Technologist (RPSGT)

Polysomnography technologists are distinct members of the allied health carecommunity. The position requires the practitioner to be efficient in testing and diagnostic evaluation of sleep and neurological disorders. The technologist works hand in hand with other members of the allied health community, physicians, and medical equipment suppliers to ensure patients' sleep/neurological health is restored to the maximum functioning potential. Specifically the practitioner will be required to gather diagnostic data, perform data analysis which supports diagnosis, and make recommendations on the patient's behalf for all facets of neurological and/ or sleep disorders.

Career Opportunity

The demand for RPSGT personnel drastically exceeds the current supply. Sleep medicine is growing by leaps and bounds regionally, nationally, and internationally. The RPSGT can find employment in hospital nationwide, in independently owned sleep clinics, as a traveling sleep technician, home sleep scoring, or working for research facilities. Compensation is in line with or exceeds most allied health careers. Many RPSGTs already have an allied health credential and are looking to expand on their existing health care career or start an entirely new one.

Polysomnography Admissions Requirements

Prior to being admitted to the professional core, applicants must complete the following program requirements:

Complete 8 hours of observation time in a sleep lab
Be certified as an American Heart Association (AHA) CPR health care provider upon time of admission into the program, as well as throughout its entirety (original card will be required for copying)
Must have an allied health credential for comparable work experience in lieu of such a credential (each case will be evaluated on an individual basis)
A physical examination by a qualified health care provider on file prior to starting the program to include vaccination records for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. You will also be required to take a series of 3 shots for Hepatitis B vaccination, provide documentation that you have previously taken the shots within the last 10 years; if your Hepatitis B vaccinations are older than 10 years a blood titer must be provided, or sign a waiver for the Hepatitis vaccinations.

Admission to the program is limited due to restricted space, clinical affiliates, faculty, and accreditation standards. Selection into the program is highly competitive due to the excellent employment opportunities for polysomnography technologists. Each applicant is evaluated on the basis of academic preparation and a previous health care experience.

**Registered Polysomnography Technologist Credential Eligibility

Upon successful completion of the program the graduate will be eligible to sit for the Registered Polysomnography Technologist (RPSGT) credential. This is the highest sleep credential achievable by a non-physician. the credential is offered through the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) and is considered the gold standard in sleep credentialing.

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
    1361 Park Street
     Clearwater, FL 33756
     Phone: 727-210-2350
     Fax: 727-210-2354
     Email: mail@caahep.org

Committee on Accreditation of Education for Polysomnographic Technologists

     American Academy of Sleep Medicine,
     One Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 920,
     Westchester , IL 60154

Phone:

708-492-0930

Fax:

708-492-0943

Email:

rrosenberg@aasmnet.org

Polysomnography Sequence of Courses

Class Schedule

First Term

September 8, 2007 9:00 am – 2:00pm Orientation

Location: ETSU Nave Center

Elizabethton, TN

September 29, 2007 8:00 – 12:00 Lecture: ETSU Nave Center

Elizabethton, TN