surgical first assistant programs in michigan

They assist the physician during the surgery.” They are the ones who make sure that a sterile field is maintained.

They set up the back table with all the instruments on it. A surg tech is responsible for preparing the patient and the operating room for surgery and hands the instruments to the doctor and other members of the surgical team. “Then the last three semesters of the program are the surgical tech classes. Sterile processing technicians ensure that all medical equipment and surgical instruments are thoroughly cleaned, sterilized, maintained, and inventoried. The students will have that after the first two semesters. “The first half of the program is a sterile processing certificate. “We are offering a stacked credential in this program,” said Chris Patterson, director of nursing and health programs at MCC. MCC is collaborating with the MCCA EPIC consortium which includes many community colleges throughout the state of Michigan and has the potential to bring many more health occupation training programs to MCC students. Several years in the making, the proposed program underwent several iterations at MCC since West Michigan Works! first contacted the college after having received interest from both Mercy and Spectrum health organizations for trained surgical technicians.

One of the program’s cost-saving features making it feasible to organizers is that student labs will be held onsite at the participating hospitals: Spectrum in Grand Rapids, Trinity Health in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Spectrum Health Lakeland in Benton Harbor, and University of Michigan Health-West in Grand Rapids. However, students will be required to attend synchronous classes prepared to discuss the content.

The graduates will then be ready to take the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting national certification exam.Īll the coursework will be taught by instructor Stephanie Allen and offered virtually through Michigan Colleges Online. The initial cohort of 21 students, limited to apprentices from the participating hospitals, will begin their five-semester, 62-credit hour program leading to an Associate of Applied Science in Surgical Technology. Muskegon Community College (MCC), working in collaboration with West Michigan Works! and several Michigan community colleges and hospitals, will “soft launch” its surgical tech program on May 16, when it becomes the first health care associate degree registered apprenticeship in the United States.

Surgical first assistant programs in michigan