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 Standards and Guidelines, the ARC/STSA Board of Directors has unanimously approved August 1, 2022, as the effective date for these Standards.

The ARC/STSA will present a series of webinars on the Surgical Technology Standards and Guidelines to assist programs with their implementation over the coming months. All training webinars will be posted at https://arcstsa.org/webinars/ and announcements will be sent to each surgical technology program beginning in 2022.

For initial guidance regarding Standard I.A., the Sponsoring Institution and the Associate Degree implementation, please see below:

Guidance related to the implementation of Standard I.A.

  • For CAAHEP accredited surgical technology programs currently offering an Associate Degree only. No changes related to Standard I.A. implementation, the program has already established compliance with Standard I.A.
  • For CAAHEP accredited surgical technology programs currently offering both an Associate Degree and certificate/diploma track. The program may continue to enroll into the certificate/ diploma track up to July 31, 2022.
  • For CAAHEP accredited surgical technology programs that are certificate/diploma only (no Associate Degree award). The program may continue to enroll into the certificate/diploma track up to July 31, 2022. The ARC/STSA will require a progress report on the sponsoring institution’s progress towards compliance with Standard I.A. no later than July 1, 2022. This category of programs may apply for a two-year implementation extension beyond the August 1, 2022, date (for Associate Degree implementation only) between July 1 – July 31, 2022. The two-year extension would then begin on August 1, 2022.

ARC/STSA will provide additional details on the implementation of the Surgical Technology Standards and Guidelines over the coming months. Please contact the ARC/STSA at info@arcstsa.org for guidance related to your specific implementation questions.