Mentoring and managing staff, budgeting, PR and
communications campaigns, grassroots and legislative initiatives… they’re all
part and parcel of running any non-profit. And after you’ve been in the
business long enough, you learn that whether it’s at a large trade association representing
widget manufacturers, or a small charity devoted to saving endangered species,
the fundamentals of non-profit management are essentially the same. So what
sets them apart? In my experience, it
comes down to one word: the “issues.”
When I interviewed for the position of Executive Director of
the BRPT, I said to Cindy (BRPT President) and Janice (BRPT Past President) “I
like the fact that you help people who have problems.” And I honestly believe that. As CPSGTs and
RPSGTs, your “issue” is helping people with sleep disorders. When I attended
the Symposium in Reno last September, I learned first-hand just how important
that is to someone’s overall health. I listened
to the sessions about co-morbidities associated with OSA and their deleterious
effects on the human body. And I also
learned, apart from their own health risks, about the dangers undiagnosed sleep
apnea sufferers pose to others -- from coworkers in busy factories, to fellow
motorists on our nation’s highways.
And more importantly, there’s something else I observed in
Reno: Passion. I saw a group of highly trained professionals who were truly
committed to, and passionate about,
sleep medicine and helping their patients.
I heard it from people like Lisa Bauck, an RPSGT at the Oregon Clinic,
with whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to at one of the group lunches
following a morning session.
I saw that passion on display several times as people
vocalized their concerns about protecting and preserving the integrity and
future of the RPSGT credential. Folks
like David Rusnak, from MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney,
Maryland. I drive by David’s workplace
on my way to music lessons in neighboring Ashton about once a month. Little did I know there was an individual so
well-versed on the Stark Act and legislative issues impacting sleep
credentialing right in my backyard. And
I saw the passion in the many faces, whose names are too numerous to list here,
that I met in the exhibit hall and at the registration desk.
That was three months ago.
And it’s been six months since I started as Executive Director in
June. That’s when you start getting
“into the groove,” as they say, in a new job.
And what the BRPT staff and I have been trying to do along the way is listen.
Listen to what the RPSGT community is saying. Based on all the calls and emails and
questions and comments, we’re changing things.
We’re going to make the website easier to navigate. We’re going to implement new recertification
reminders. For first-time test takers,
we’re going to make the application easier to understand. We’re going to be more proactive on the
public policy front. We’re going to
continue to develop and expand the CSE program. We’re doing all of this based
on feedback that you have provided to us.
Here in the office, we call it BRPT two-point-oh. And as we roll that out over the coming weeks
and months, we’ll keep listening to you and fine-tuning things along the way. So
thank you for voicing your comments, concerns and most importantly your support
as we enter the New Year.
Jim Magruder
BRPT Executive Director
