How Did I End Up Here? Roya Tompkins, MS, REEG/EPT, RPSGT

'You can’t get to where you are going by standing where you are…'

Have you seen the movie Sliding Doors?  If not I highly recommend it.

So much of life is that way - a door opens and your journey takes on a whole new path.

A little about me….

I entered into this field as part of an internship during graduate school.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from James Madison University in Virginia and a Master’s Degree in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Like many of us stumbling into the field of Neurodiagnostics we found our way here through a ‘door’. 

After just starting graduate school I wanted some experience in neurology.  I didn’t want to finish my degree without relevant work experience of some sort. 

Where to look back in the day before google?  The yellow pages of course.

I flipped the book open to the letter N to find Neuro and being in the Dallas area the first listing was Children’s Medical Center.

I was fortunate to be connected with the Neurophysiology Manager (…a door) and she kindly mentioned a sleep researcher with UT Southwestern that could help with what I was looking for (…another door). 

That connection ended up being my internship for graduate school and the sleep researcher also happened to be the Medical Director of the Sleep Lab at Children’s.  

Following him back and forth between the medical school and the hospital I would see the technologists performing sleep studies, epilepsy monitoring and EEGs and thought…’that looks cool….I want to do that’….’that looks interesting, I’d like to learn that’….and by the time I had finished my graduate program I had not only learned all the testing modalities but had also sat for my exams and had become registered in PSG, Evoked Potentials and EEG.

After spending some additional time in the OR doing intra-operative monitoring - another door opened.

The same manager that had put me in touch with the sleep researcher was relocating and called to say ‘Roya, I think you should apply for my job.’

Being in the right place at the right time and them knowing me for over 2 years - what a blessing that was (…another door).

This started a new chapter for me as the Neurophysiology Clinical Manager at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas (now known as Children’s Health).

To say I loved that job is an understatement but after 9 years and the birth of my second son it was time to move on.  However, the connections and the experience that I gained in that role have been invaluable to me.

They're a lot older now : )

Several years later I received a call from a doctor that I had previously worked with and who now owned a private practice.  I recall him saying amusingly…’Roya, aren’t your kids in school now?  Don’t you want to come back to work?’  At that time my boys were still young; but still wanting to help, I mentioned to him if you know of someone - I will train them.

That phone call (…another door) started my business offering testing and training services.

Over the past 15 + years my training services have evolved to a full training academy.  And the testing services have provided many opportunities for me to do what initially brought me into this field - taking care of patients. 

2020 not only brought Covid but it also was pivotal in the field of Neurodiagnostics with the introduction of remote monitoring.  This was an area very much of interest to me.

I was fortunate to be connected with Carmen Ellison here at Integris Neuro and remember sitting on my back patio discussing Intermittent Monitoring opportunities with her (…another door).

The IM role with Integris Neuro expanded to include an opportunity on the Editing Team as well as their Social Media Blog Committee.  These experiences have enabled me to continue learning as well as work on areas of interest to me.  Providing educational content along with patient care.

As we all continue to work in Neurodiagnostics - educating future technologists is so important.  My training academy and blog posts are my contribution to this effort.

This field has been good to me.  Helping others find their way into it is the most rewarding part.

I am also now excited to expand my roles into Advocacy as one of the founders and current president of the new Texas Chapter of ASET. 

For my students I often share my story and encourage them to keep evolving in this field - the opportunities are many.  

Just keep a forward motion and don’t forget to look for the doors.

Roya Tompkins, MS, REEG/EP T., RPSGT