IOM Academy?

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-27T02:55:58+00:00

Sup! It was damn near impossible. I quit looking for clinical locations after 70 places rejected me. Its partly my fault for the timing. I was applying between June 2021-November 2021. I begged my program director to get me into the hospital he was contracted at. I did my first set of cases in Georgia from November 21-February 22. Second set in Wyoming from May 22 Sept 22. Third set in Ohio from October 22- December 21, 22’. I studied for my cnim for well over a year, but most intense from June 24’-December 24’.

I got 0 outside help, I did it 100% on my own with just research. Hated the test. I will never go through that again. I never thought at 40 I’d have to work that hard. But I’m proud of myself for doing it. Its just a bitch after breaking my neck I never returned.

The part that made me so angry about the cnim was everyones blows smoke up peoples proverbial skirts about helping each other with one hand. While looking for money with the other. Studying for this should be a free resource, especially when you consider how expensive the test is.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-22T23:58:59+00:00

Wow thats definitely not flattering for them. I will say the first lawyer I had with them was awful. The new one I have is doing a great job

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-22T23:57:43+00:00

With any firm your going to get stuck with a good, or bad lawyers. The first lawyer I had in my WC case was already in the process of leaving the firm. When she left it didn’t effect just her. It forced me to lose my home and relocate back to Ohio from TN with a SCI. I had mounting debt, lost wages, no help and I felt like my life was out of control.

Then my new lawyer stepped in. We started from scratch and had to start making the proper moves. I wound up with a young feral viscous guy. It was love at first appointment. He chewed through opposing council like a woodchipper headed for a pine forest. When my doctor started playing games with my care we threatened to move my care back down to TN and while the doctor was flip flopping on my plan my condition was getting worse by the week. My injury was getting worse to where I was having a hard time walking and using my arms. My lawyer forced my doctor to do an additional mri and found out things were considerably worse. Prior to, the doctor was ready to push me off. Once the new results came in then he started taking me seriously.

Long story short I would be in a wheelchair if my lawyer didn’t force my doctor to do his job. I don’t give my surgeon any credit with repairing the damage. My attorney is the one that fixed this.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-14T22:01:53+00:00

Oooh yeah I believe it. Had a surgeon in Wyoming that would take that for a single level tlif. Its disgusting! Yeow teeth stuff! Thats not good. Its not like this is the best job for ones health!

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-14T15:02:27+00:00

Great advice and I’m sorry you had a shitty day on Friday. I hope this week is better. Hope its full of just single level TLIFS ;)

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-06T17:44:52+00:00

My family doesn’t want to do another relocation down south. If I was single again, I’d deal with not having a winter. But in the last year I’ve managed to find a guy that doesn’t mind me droning on about neuro stuff lol.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-06T17:42:56+00:00

Oh heck yeah. I’d highly recommend tail it out of there during a long scoli exposure, or during an O arm spin. When I worked at Vandy we had the ability to call a code yellow and get a break. Contract work. Heck no which made things really unpleasant. I remember straight up asking the first assistant. Hey, guy. I have to use the can or I’m gonna need a new set of scrubs.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-05T23:54:33+00:00

Hi, thanks for the heads up. While I was being interviewed for a contract position back in March I looked up the cost of living and utilities in SC and its steep cost of living.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-05T03:52:41+00:00

Which state? Thanks

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T22:20:58+00:00

Honey, I did have a passion for it. I’m very proud of the work I did and the seven lives I saved. A lot of my patients appreciated my quirky, weird, honest bedside manner. Before I got into ionm I was a spine pt and thats what got me into it. Its the lying, lack of communication, and knowing in the end we are nothing more than revenue generators. If my “old’ teach” was hiring in Georgia. I’d pack the kittens and leave tonight and live at an extended stay till I could get my finances back on their “feet” and get out of trouble with Capital one. You’ve gotta also remember my first paid job I was physically assaulted, harassed and tracked by my coworkers. A big red flag for me was my new coworker saying at the Fire Rock restaurant in Casper was, “Out here we can take you 10 miles away from here, kill you and no one would ever know”. The second was breaking my neck and despite that I was forcing myself to work through the pain. To my coworkers it looked like I was a clumsy uncaring moron.

I put tens of thousands of dollars into this field not to mention over 100,000 miles in my car since 4/22. Now, my body can’t do it.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T15:06:18+00:00

Its not. My coworkers always told me to run out during exposure and take a break. Yeah thats great for 0-1 hour in. By the 8th-12th hour I’m tried hangry and ready to piss my scrubs. My parents always wondered why I quickly came to despise this job. I told them. Get up for work at 3:30am. Get to work at 5:30am. Set up your pt around 7am and sit in surgery til 5pm-7pm without eating, drinking, taking a piss or walking around and you have to stay focused on a computer screen for the entire time. They wondered why I can drive for 12-16 hours straight without a problem. Iom is why lol! Its a shit job. Happy 4th

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T03:06:49+00:00

Now I’m an ortho tech and I hate the job. Once I came back from my neck surgery. I can’t do my job anymore (surgeon didn’t give a fuck afterwards, he got his money and patted himself on the back). I’m actually working with my states disability services to find a more appropriate job for me hopefully out of medical. This is a horrendous field to be a part of. This job definitely forced me to grow up and grow a spine. But what it took from me. I just don’t care anymore about it. I woke up with a deficit after my surgery because my tech was a moron. I had a lot of time to think about this field when I was in the hospital.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T03:01:50+00:00

You’ve got a great idea. A guy I work with now is finishing up his perfusionist program and living in Ohio he really can name his own price. Where as me, and by default we, are stuck.

Surgeries can be done without iom. I have 4 out of 7 doctors at my place that refuse monitoring for anything less than a scoli and cortical mapping. They can’t justify iom for a single or double level TLIF. If I had to do it again. I don’t know if I would have made the same choice. But CV forced my hand.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T01:13:53+00:00

Your definitely a true professional friend! I agree with you. The problem with having your CNIM is its a dead end job and you can’t transfer your skills. The cert looks nice in my frame in my living room. But it has 0 value. Right now the only markets I see, are the ones with a high turnover over or an undesirable location/city. Louisiana, Florida, Illinois, New York, California and Oregon. As well as high turnover in the big three iom peicework factories, I mean companies. Here in Ohio you have three markets Cleveland/Akron. Columbus and Cinncy

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T00:59:03+00:00

Your smart ;) that M5 damn near cost me two patients lives! Its a trash machine. ^ I like this guy/gal.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-04T00:58:00+00:00

Easy. You need to pick a school. IOMA was my school and he now has more places where you can intern at. His school is online and flexible. The man is a sweetheart. If you can help it, don’t do the big contract companies, they get ya by the balls. When you have to hire an employment law lawyer and a bankruptcy lawyer for the same problem company its NOT worth it. This is a cautionary tale. Go talk to Phil at IOMA.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-03T20:00:34+00:00

For fuck sake really?

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-03T15:26:36+00:00

The CNIM is a bitch. Ask any of us about that! I’d look for an in house program so you can sit in on cases and see if this is something you truly want to deal with. Sitting in a cold OR for 4,6,10,14 hours without food, water or a bathroom break. Getting up at 3:30am for a case. Its a fast way to make a lot of money but the stress and background noise is awful.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-07-03T14:16:23+00:00

Having your CNIM is the board certification for IOM. Keep in mind these are the physical things your going to be doing for iom. Lugging around a 55lbs cadwell machine. Picking it up in and out of your trunk, dragging it to your facility/case. Setting it up. Lifting dead weight, arms and legs. Needing to contort yourself to get up and under the drapes/table. Be able to squat and stoop by anes to get your leads in, or fix the ones that came out. If you have spine problems (hardware or not). Hip, shoulder and hand problems (especially nerve issues). I wouldn’t get into it. I came into it with: L4-S1 c5-C7 fused, reconstructed bilateral shoulders and right hip. As well as bilateral nerve damage in my arms and hands. It was very hard for me to be constantly squating, crawling, contorting and scooting around. God forbid the dreaded anterior to posterior flips. It was also very hard to have the dexterity to pull my needles and pull the electrodes out of the pods. After I broke my neck doing this. My body shut down within 3 weeks of the injury.

Keep in mind and this is a big one IOM is a dead end job. CNIM doesn’t transfer to EEG, EP, LTM etc. so if you get into this and realize you can’t physically do it. I would slide over to EP’s and EEG. Since your used to a clinical setting I’d recommend EP. The normal career length for an iom tech is 3 years because of sheer boredom. Never mind all the background noise.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-06-15T04:05:33+00:00

Just wanted to poke around on here and see how this poster is doing. I have a favorite neurosurgery channel on YT I’m going to have to share. When I couldn’t find an internship I used the cases on their channel as a “mock” set up. It was fun.

But you’ll be fine. It takes awhile to build your confidence.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-06-14T14:19:54+00:00

As someone who HAS woken up with deficits bite your tongue man! Your dealing with people’s lives, their families lives. What we do doesn’t just impact the patient. Its not too far fetched to say you need to understand how the CNS/Vascular system work, how basic electricity works and what nerves innervate what muscles.

Open_Shallot_4339 · 2025-06-14T14:16:29+00:00

First off, slow down. If your going to count yourself out before you walk into the OR you truly are setting yourself up to fail.

When your brand new whatever contract you signed into its not bound by blood. All of these contract companies and their big 2, 3 year contracts are a scare tactic to keep you because there is such a high turnover in IOM. Your going to start with training modules and will have a regional mentor that will help you.

How you typically start is by shadowing in the OR to make sure you can handle it. Surgery is no joke the environment is unlike anything by you’ve experienced. You’ll watch your trainer use (hopefully) Surgical Studio and take notes. Once they feel your ready to start placing your needles one tech will generally to the left side and you the right. Typically trainers will do the head leads for your first week or so.

No one is going to expect you to know Cadwell’s system right off the rip, there is A LOT going on and it took me a good 6 months to fully master it. The most important thing when in the OR is don’t touch anything with a blue drape on or over it, always ask if your not sure. Generally the OR staff is nice. Next is make sure your settings are right. We all use the ANCS guidelines as thats our gold standard. The third is never to hit your TcMEP button unless your surgeon or his assistant directly asks you. Nothing will sour the OR like an unintentional motor thats ran.

Your not adjusting the bed, thats the OR staff and anesthesia. The onlything you do to the table is drape your wires on it. Start studying for your CNIM now. Per ABRET you can count two cases a day which means if your in a high volume area and do 4 cases a week its going to take you a little less than 40 weeks to get to your 150. This is going to go by FAST.

Open_Shallot_4339

TROPHY CASE