As a military spouse, I have faced my fair share of challenges when it comes to balancing my career aspirations with the plans of the United States Navy. My husband, Justin, has been in the Navy since graduating high school – what you would call career military. With the military life comes a unique set of challenges that many won’t face in their lifetime. We’re moved every three years, uprooting our children and careers, leaving family and friends behind, as well as homes that we have made years of memories in.
For me, the absolute hardest challenge was finding a meaningful, fulfilling, and portable career as a military spouse. Moving jobs every three years doesn’t exactly scream “Hire me!” when filling out applications and your job history is a little scattered. My saving grace was a job fair at the hospital I was working at in 2012, which advertised “EEG Technologist Training Program – all expenses paid.” I quickly applied, was accepted, graduated, became registered, and it was all uphill from there.
After five years of working as an REEGT at my first hospital (I love pediatrics!!!), my husband was transferred to a new duty station and it was time to move again. While I initially worked onsite at a level 4 Epilepsy center after our move, life circumstances pushed for more flexibility in my career which brought me to remote monitoring. Working for a remote EEG monitoring company as an REEGT/CLTM is truly an ideal career for a military spouse. Being the first set of eyes on critically ill patients all over the country challenges me and our team every day, 24 hours a day. We are there from hook up to disconnect, reporting on changes, communicating with our reading Epileptologists, and the onsite hospital teams every step of the way. Best of all, it provides a significant amount of flexibility in scheduling that we don’t typically have while working onsite!
Qualified, educated, responsible, and registered EEG technologists are in very high demand all across the United States. There are more positions than people to fill those roles – which is contributing to the vicious cycle of over work, low wages, and burnout in our field. Military spouses can help fill those gaps! If you’re looking for a career change, Neurodiagnostics might be just the ticket for you.
Written by: Dana Gagnon, BA, R. EEG T, CLTM
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Remote EEG Technologist, visit: https://www.intranerve.com/about/careers/.
