Arlington, VA – December 9, 2022 – Today, the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) announced the winners of its Jomo Martin Nkunika Memorial Scholarship for a promising student of polysomnography. Two individuals were selected out of nearly 30 applications. Firdausi Enyinna-Okezie from Plano, TX and Tara Krticka from Benton, AR are the recipients of this inaugural scholarship; each will receive a $3,000 tuition grant to an approved CAAHEP-accredited PSG program, a CAAHEP-accredited END program with a PSG add on, or a CoARC accredited program with a PSG add on.
“We’re excited to offer this scholarship to Firdausi and Tara, both of whom are working in a healthcare setting, are passionate about helping patients and have a keen interest in pursuing a career in sleep technology,” said BRPT Immediate Past-President, Steve Marquis, MBA, RPSGT, CCSH. “This scholarship is very personal to all of us at the BRPT as Jomo was a treasured member of the Board of Directors for three years and we miss his contributions, enthusiasm and friendship.”
Added Jomo’s widow, Dali Maleta-Nkunika, “May this great opportunity help these students go the distance in furthering Jomo’s passion and legacy in the field of sleep medicine.”
The application window was opened from August 1, 2022 through September 30 2022. The BRPT’s Educational Grant Task Force reviewed all applications through a carefully crafted rubric to determine the best qualified applicants.
About The Jomo Martin Nkunika Scholarship
The scholarship is named in honor of Jomo Martin Nkunika, MSHCA, BS, CCSH, RPSGT. Jomo, a former member of the BRPT Board of Directors, was a strong advocate of sleep education and was the program director and adjunct professor of the Sleep Medicine Technology program at Montgomery College in Maryland. In addition, Jomo was a clinical manager with MedBridge Health at the Frederick Memorial Hospital Advanced Center for Sleep Studies.
Jomo was an integral part of the BRPT Board of Directors from 2016 until 2019 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Sadly, Jomo lost his battle against ALS in July 2021.
About The BRPT
The BRPT develops and administers credentialing exams for polysomnographic technologists and technicians. The RPSGT is respected worldwide as the leading credential for polysomnographic technologists. Since the first credentialing exam administration in 1979, BRPT has credentialed nearly 25,000 RPSGTs worldwide. In May 2014, BRPT launched the Certification In Clinical Sleep Health (CCSH) examination for healthcare providers specializing in sleep medicine who work directly with sleep medicine patients, families and practitioners for patient care management, improved outcomes, and sleep health education and advocacy for patients and the community.
The BRPT is an independent, non-profit certification board that cultivates the highest professional and ethical standards for polysomnographic technologists. In addition to administering the RPSGT, CPSGT, and CCSH exams in the United States and internationally, the BRPT also maintains the RPSGT registry and CPSGT roster. In addition, the BRPT provides its Continuing Sleep Technology Education (CSTE) Program for educational providers seeking continuing education credits for their offerings. For more information, please visit www.brpt.org.
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