[TALK-OF-MIAMI]

I have one more month in my surgical tech program and after that I start my intern hours. Is there anyone that can tell me the best way to study for my certification exam. Also is there advice anyone can give me as far as how much do surgical tech's make and the different that I can work

[ShariDCST]

Originally Posted by TALK-OF-MIAMI

I have one more month in my surgical tech program and after that I start my intern hours. Is there anyone that can tell me the best way to study for my certification exam. Also is there advice anyone can give me as far as how much do surgical tech's make and the different that I can work

AST provides a study guide - for purchase of course - as well as an online review for the exam. Some daily review of all the information you have covered is probably the best way to go about it, as opposed to cramming at the last minute. I promise - that one doesn't work nearly as well.
As far as wages are concerned, it depends entirely on where you live/work and what sort of facility you plan on working in. The options are generally hospital ORs. and outpatient surgery centers when you have no working experience other than clinicals, and even most of the OSCs want some hospital general OR experience under your belt before they will hire you. Other options come open to you later, such as private scrub, or working in other departments, in sales or as a vendor rep, once you get more experience behind you. If your school has a placement office, I would consult with them as to what your local options for employment would be. Also the hospital HR departments in your area should be able to advise you.
The AST site - www.ast.org has a wage comparison chart by state, which is based on surveys they do of the membership, and information on employment options, as well as job postings. If you haven't been to the site yet - and I have a feeling you may not have because the answers you are looking for are there - I strongly recommend you check it out. There is a wealth of information, and educational and study resources there for you to make use of.
If I read you right, you have one more month of classroom work - and THEN you start your clinicals/internship? Are they not held in conjunction with each other? Do you have more classroom time to do before you are done? How many hours of internship practice do you get? I'm asking because in my program, clinical experience started about 3 months after intensive basic classroom and lab practice, and continued, increasing in time per week each semester, all the way through the program, worked in with more classroom hours. The last month of our program, during class time, we used the study guide as a class group, and spent about an hour a day reviewing for the exam. It worked very nicely - only one person didn't pass her first time out.
Good luck with completing your program and passing the exam - it can be very intimidating going in, but once you see what's involved, it's not so bad. At least I didn't think so! The worst part of the whole thing was that seemingly endless wait staring at a blank screen at the end, when it's asked you all the questions it's going to, and calculating your pass/fail result. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

[TALK-OF-MIAMI]

I have about 4 weeks left of class... and yes the classroom work is held in conjunction with internship. Internship is still apart of school because if u don't complete internship u don't graduate school. I believe there's 500 hours to complete. When I first started the first three months were straight classroom time consisting of a bunch of writing and note taking. Begining on my 4th month that's when lab practice came in and lab has been going on ever since. Do u know any ST that are now RN's.

[ShariDCST]

Originally Posted by TALK-OF-MIAMI

I have about 4 weeks left of class... and yes the classroom work is held in conjunction with internship. Internship is still apart of school because if u don't complete internship u don't graduate school. I believe there's 500 hours to complete. When I first started the first three months were straight classroom time consisting of a bunch of writing and note taking. Begining on my 4th month that's when lab practice came in and lab has been going on ever since. Do u know any ST that are now RN's.

There are several RNs that are on this board who were CSTs at one time. Personally, I only know one - but I know there are many out there - I just don't happen to be personally acquainted with them. It seems to be a fairly popular career move for some CSTs. It depends on what direction you want your career to take.