Becoming a Surgical Assistant??

[Donald11]

hi everyone,

i am not a nurse but want to become one. however, because just getting into ns can often require more time and effort than completing ns, i was looking into becoming a surgical assistant. unfortunately, there are zero surgical assistant programs accredited by the ama in my area. but i was surpised to learn that there a a good number of hybrid (online) programs out there. and they are fully accredited since they are all listed on the official website of the national board for surgical technology and surgical assisting, which accredits such programs. i've done some google searches to learn more, but i keep finding articles about surgical techs, which are not the same thing.

i was just wondering if anyone can give me any insight into the job of a surgical assistant? are they in demand? is it harder to become one than an lpn or rn? how does their pay compare to those of nurses? do i need a certificate or degree? also, and this is my most important question, can i become a surgical assistant (or first surigcal assistant) without any formal healthcare education or work experience?

to avoid confusion, this is the career i was interested in pursuing (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upl...-assistant.pdf ). i did not want anyone to get it confused with surgical technologist.

thank you!

[Donald11]

Good luck with your studies. However, I noticed that many schools ofer PA degrees on the bachelor level. So if you want to save time and money, you could ditch your tech program and go right into PA school. Also, PA is better than a CFA since your recognized in all 50 states. So you could skip CFA school and do PA right away.

[mercys]

A SA and a PA are two different things. SA only assist during surgery. Can work for hosp or DR. PA is not trained to assist in surgery. He is like a medical assistant,paperwork,seeing patients. In order to do surgery he has to be trained additionally. In my hospital,a new PA comes with the Surgeon and is trained by them or relying on the SA. Most of our SA were techs that were trained on the job by the surgeons and other SAs. We even have a SA that started out in the inst room,we trained as a Tech then trained as a SA. Of course I dont think that happens so much now. Maybe in the smaller rural areas.

[KimGau]

Donald- In my area Pa is a masters level program at all schools and they are already discussing making it a PHD program at some schools. I want to become a CFA for personal reasons out of personal interests. Thanks for the advice.

Mercys- You really hit the nail on the head with why I want to go to CFA school before PA school. My first love is surgery and my second love is being able to have patient interactions (rounds etc..) I feel like by coming out of PA school already cst/cfa certified that will give me a huge advantage because as you had mentioned I would not need all of that extra training.