Arlington, VA – January 17, 2024 – Today, the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) announced the winner of its Jomo Martin Nkunika Memorial Scholarship for a promising student of polysomnography. One student was selected out of nearly 20 applications. Kailey Keech, from North Carolina, is the 2023 recipient of the second annual scholarship; she 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.
“While there were many strong applications, we felt Kailey’s stood out in a number of ways,” said Michelle DiMaria, BS, RRT, RPSGT, who is Chair of the Scholarship Committee. “She described her love of interacting one-on-one with patients, her strong desire to help people suffering from the negative effects of poor sleep patterns – such as her father – and her deep interest in pursuing a sleep-related higher education degree.”
“A goal of mine has always been to one day be the first person in my family to go to college in hopes of having a career that allows me to interact with new people each day,” said Kailey Keech. “I plan to pursue my studies at Pitt Community College, where I have spent the last year. During this time, I’ve taken pre-requisite classes for the Polysomnography Program as well as completed BLS and NA1 courses. Throughout my time in NA clinicals, it became even more evident to me that I belong, and love, being around people.”
The application window was opened from November 1, 2023 through December 1, 2023. The Committee 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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