Announcements

The August 1, 2022, effective date of the new and updated ARC/STSA policies is quickly approaching.  Join us for an informational session on Tuesday, August 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. MT, to review and discuss the new and updated policies below. Policies effective August 1, 2022, for all surgical technology and surgical assisting programs include: Accreditation Fundamentals for Educators (AFE) Workshop Attendance Policy Outcomes [...]

Due to technical challenges with the launch of the new 2022 ARC/STSA Annual Report platform, the report submission due date has been extended from May 31 to August 1, 2022. Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve the technical difficulties as quickly as possible.  We will host a live webinar training in early May to walk through [...]

Now Available – the Associate Degree Implementation Policy for Surgical Technology Programs! Visit the policy page of the ARC/STSA website at https://arcstsa.org/policies/ to review the new policy, which is effective August 1, 2022, in conjunction with the new ST Standards and Guidelines. Surgical technology programs that do not award an associate degree as of August 1, 2022, may apply [...]

The Board of Directors has approved five new policies (3 for SA & ST programs, and 2 for ST programs only), which will become effective August 1, 2022, including: Accreditation Fundamentals for Educators (AFE) Workshop Attendance Policy Clinical Evaluation, Case Log and Clinical Expectations Policy for Surgical Technology Programs Laboratory Sufficiency Policy for Surgical Technology Programs Outcomes Threshold, Reporting and Assessment [...]

To access the complete announcement regarding important updates and reminders, please click here.

The ARC/STSA will mail complimentary hard copies of the CCST, seventh edition, to each program director of CAAHEP-accredited and initial applicant surgical technology programs (1 per program) in early 2022. In the meantime, please see Standards & Curricula page under the Accreditation tab of the ARC/STSA website to access a digital copy of the corrected version of the CCST, 7e. [...]

At their meeting on November 19, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) voted to approve proposed language to the Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Surgical Technology. (See Approved ST Standards) To provide programs additional time to review and implement the newly approved CAAHEP Surgical Technology [...]

As part of the national accreditation CAAHEP Standards development process, the ARC/STSA invites public comment on the proposed CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Surgical Technology. To provide comments, please download the linked annotated Standards and use the downloaded version as a reference to complete the linked survey to submit your feedback. After the closing [...]