TCL’s surgical technology faculty and staff recently embarked on an education campaign as part of National Surgical Technology Week, Sept. 21 – 27.
The campaign included posters displayed around campus buildings and social media posts – all in an effort to educate the public about what exactly surg-techs do.
“Part of the problem and why we decided to launch this campaign is that we’re finding people don’t always know or understand what a surg-tech does or the important role this member of the surgical team plays in healthcare settings,” said Dawn Walz, TCL’s Surgical Technology program director.
Walz cited a recent Wall Street Journal article that backed up that sentiment. The article stated that millions of fast-growing careers – such as surgical technologists – are going unfilled simply because workers don’t know about them.
“And that’s really too bad because surg-tech can be a good paying, highly satisfactory career path,” she said.
So what do surg-techs do?
Surg-techs maintain the integrity of the sterile field to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients, Walz explained. In addition, they prep and care for patients and are expected to know which instruments, supplies and medications to use for which procedure.
To learn more here about the field or National Surgical Technology week visit https://www.ast.org/aboutus/nstw.
To find out how cutting-edge technology at TCL is helping students learn read TCL’s article here.
To learn more about TCL’s Surgical Technology program pathway and how to enroll, visit our program page here.