By Tracey Houston, CSFA, CST The Third Annual Joint Conference of the Association of Surgical Assistants and National Surgical Assistant Association took place on April 1-2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference offered a range of workshops and discussions on emerging trends in the world of surgical assisting, including scientific presentations, multi-station workshops featuring the latest in surgical techniques, and legislative [...]
ARC/STSA is proud to celebrate our golden anniversary this year – 50 years of accreditation and program excellence. Throughout the year, we’ll be looking back at the last five decades — from our humble beginnings in December 1972 as the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs for the Operating Room Technician (JRC-ORT) to today, as we provide national accreditation services for [...]
By Ron Kruzel, MA, CAE, CST, ARC/STSA Executive Director Valentine’s greetings from all of us here at the ARC/STSA! Who do we love?! Our surgical technology and surgical assisting educators! So much is happening at the ARC/STSA with the start of 2022. November and December saw CAAHEP approval of the surgical technology Standards and Guidelines, launch of the Core Curriculum [...]
Featuring Katie Towler, EdS, MA, and Niki Coughlin, BS, RCS, RVS, from Sioux City Career Academy, Sioux City, Iowa. The heart is one of the most complex and vital organs within the human body. However, studying the heart can be challenging because of its intricacy, and not all institutions have access to a cadaver lab and human organs on campus. [...]
By Stephanie Austin, MA, CST, FAST Surgical technology has a long history in the medical community. The education for this profession began as on-the-job training only. As the profession grew, more education was required to hold this position. Beginning this year, in 2022, the official transition to an associate degree has begun. As educators, it is our job to train [...]
ARC/STSA 2022 Scholarships – Share the ! It's Valentine's Day, so why not share the love and spread the word about ARC/STSA's 2022 scholarship opportunities for students and educators! Share this article and encourage your students and fellow educators to apply today for the ARC/STSA 2022 Student and Chris Keegan Memorial Educator Scholarships. Applications are available on the ARC/STSA website’s scholarship page. All completed applications [...]
By Chris Blevins, BSCJ, AAS-ST, CST, CNA Growth of a Podcast Once upon a time, a girl and her dislike of PowerPoint group presentations decided to venture into the world of podcasting. Who knew that less than four years later, this little project would reach over 8.4K downloads, in three countries, and provide a team project that students look forward [...]
Last month, educators’ hearts and minds came together at EdAccred’s first Better Together: Success Strategy Talk of 2022. During the session, “Clinical Success Strategies During the Pandemic,” surgical technology and surgical assisting educators discussed strategies for continued student success in meeting clinical requirements when faced with the current challenges of the pandemic. Take a closer look below at some key [...]
ARC/STSA would like to congratulate the surgical technology programs that have recently received awards of initial and continuing accreditation. Please join us in acknowledging the dedication and hard work it took for these programs to reach these critical milestones. Surgical Technology Initial Accreditation: Rasmussen University, Central Pasco – Odessa, FL Pittsburgh Career Institute – Pittsburgh, PA Altierus Career College, Houston – [...]
ARC/STSA is celebrating 50 years of excellence in 2022! Throughout this year, we’ll be looking back at the last five decades — from our humble beginnings in December 1972 as the Accreditation Review Committee on Education in Surgical Technology (ARC-ST) to today, as we provide national accreditation services for more than 400 higher education programs in surgical technology and surgical [...]
