Newsletter

Whew! Your annual report is submitted. You just graduated another class. Your grads are happily starting their first jobs as brand new certified surgical technologists. Now you can relax for a bit before you have to get ready for the next enrollment. But wait: Your clinical coordinator just informed you he’s resigning and moving away from your community. Your calm transition into the next academic year now has the potential for chaos. No matter what your role is in the faculty hiring process, here are a few tips to get your new instructor up and running ASAP.

One of the reasons I left the operating room behind for a teaching career was because everything became too technical. I was spending more time figuring out why the image on the monitor was unclear than I was caring for my patients. When I went back to school, I found myself smack dab in the middle of classes learning about distance learning and wondering about its application in surgical technology education.

This year's Accreditation Fundamentals for Educators (AFE) and Site Visitors Training for Beginners (SVT-B), both sponsored by the ARC/STSA, was held on May 31, 2016, in sunny San Diego. Held in conjunction with the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST) Conference, the course is designed to introduce first-year directors with opportunities to learn about the CAAHEP's Standards and Guidelines and its accreditation process.

In part one of this two-part series, featured in the May 2016 issue of the ARC/STSA E-newsletter, we learned a little bit more about CAAHEP: What the organization is, as well as its history, mission, vision and function. With this understanding of CAAHEP’s goal — to create quality educational programs that prepare students for a successful career in surgical technology and [...]

In this two-part series, we’ll be delving into who exactly CAAHEP is, as well as the relationship between CAAHEP and ARC/STSA. While the name “CAAHEP” is well-recognized, its history, mission, vision and function may be a little murkier. The goal of CAAHEP is ultimately the same as yours: to create quality educational programs that prepare students for a successful career in [...]

In each issue of the e-newsletter, we will be including a poll question for readers to answer. Then, we will analyze the data and include a summary in the upcoming issue of the publication. All answers are confidential and strictly for the purpose of helping you better understand what your fellow program directors are up to. After gathering all the data, [...]

We understand that sending in the annual report isn't exactly the most fun task on your to-do list. And we can't really make it more exciting, but we can help make it more comprehensive. Director of Education and Professional Affairs at ARC/STSA, Arthur A. Makin, BS, CST, FAST, put together a list of answers to often-heard questions related to the annual [...]

The Program Director in the Spotlight Series will highlight a specific program director who is overcoming a tough challenge, making an impact on the industry, and generally going above and beyond the call of duty. This month, we are highlighting JoLane Collins, surgical technology program director at the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) in beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina. In this [...]