NECC Sleep Technology Program Now Offered Online
Northern Essex Community College’s Sleep Technology Program, the only program of its kind offered at a Massachusetts’ community college, will now be available almost entirely online in order to accommodate the needs of working professionals from across Massachusetts and New England.
Students in this two-semester program will have the option of taking all of their coursework online and attending class for clinical instruction one Saturday a month in the state-of-the-art sleep laboratory on Northern Essex’s Lawrence Campus. Students are also required to complete a clinical experience at one of several sites in the Greater Boston area. This new hybrid option is a collaboration between Northern Essex and Bunker Hill Community College. Northern Essex will continue to offer the program in the traditional classroom as well.
Registered sleep technologists are in high demand across with country, earning starting salaries of between $40,000 and $50,000 a year, according to John Murray, program and clinical coordinator of Northern Essex’s Sleep Technology Program. “All of the 19 students that graduated from our program in May are employed locally,” he said.
Sleep technologists work in sleep labs, often associated with hospitals, helping to diagnose sleep disorders. A growing awareness of sleep disorders and of their serious health risks has led to the opening of more sleep labs in recent years, creating a growing demand for sleep technologists. Due to the nature of the work, sleep technologists often work at night.
Students in Northern Essex’s Sleep Technology Program participate in classroom study, laboratory practice, and clinical experiences. Upon completion of the program, students are awarded a certificate in polysomnography, which will allow them to sit for a national registry exam for polysomnographic technology. The program is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHEP).
For more information on Northern Essex’s Sleep Technology Program or the new hybrid option, contact John Murray at jmurray@necc.mass.edu or 978 738-7274.
With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence and extension sites in Andover and Methuen, Northern Essex Community College is a state-assisted college, offering over 70 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of non credit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth. Close to 13,000 students ranging from recent high school graduates to workers employed locally attend classes days, evenings, and weekends. Northern Essex is the only state college located in the lower Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts.