Surgical Technician Schools

Surgical Tech Salaries

Salaries for Surgical Technologists vary, depending on where you live and where you work. The average salary for a typical Surgical Technologist in the US ranged from $34,010 in 2004, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a low of $23,940 and a high of $45,990. In general, Surgical Technologists working in medical and surgical hospitals earned $33,140, while those working in physicians' and dentists' offices earned $36,570 to $37,510.

Surgical Technologies jobs are more popular than ever, thanks to the NBC-TV program, "Scrubs." Also known as Surgical Technicians, they held about 84,000 jobs in 2004. Most worked a regular 40-hour week in:

• Hospitals
• Delivery rooms
• Physician offices
• Dentist offices
• Outpatient care centers, including ambulatory surgical centers.

Surgical Tech Jobs (OR) Surgical Tech Careers

The Surgical Technologist jobs outlook is strong and expected to grow much faster than average (27% or more) through 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the volume of surgical procedures rises and the population ages, especially the baby boom generation.

Surgical technicians are also called 'scrubs' or operating room technicians. Your main role will be to assist other surgical personnel before, during, and after surgery. Your responsibilities may include:

• preparing the patient
• preparing sterile and non-sterile equipment such as scalpels
• recording patient vital signs

Surgical Tech School Curriculum

Courses vary a little between surgical tech schools, however the following subjects are typical of what you might expect:

• anatomy
• physiology
• medical terminology
• pharmacology
• microbiology
• medical ethics

You may gain practical experience in the care and safety of patients, sterile techniques, sterilizing equipment, infection prevention and control, safe drug handling, and surgical procedures.

Surgical Technician Certification

To become certified, you must first matriculate from a surgical technician program accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT).

You will then need to pass a national certification exam to become a Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) or Tech in Surgery-Certified (T S-C [NCCT]). Both of these routes require you to embark on continuing education and recertification: every four years for the CST, and every five years for T S-C (NCCT). You would be wise to check that the surgical tech schools that interest you are accredited.

Surgical Technician Career Options

The Bureau of Labor expects job prospects to be good for certified graduates of surgical tech schools. This is mainly due to the baby boomers reaching their mid fifties and requiring more surgery.

Advances in surgical technology are also providing opportunities through the employment of new surgical techniques and procedures such as laser surgery and fiber optics. The majority of opportunities will be in hospitals.

Request enrollment info from the surgical technician schools listed below today. It's free and there's no obligation.