CA State Assembly for Association of Surgical Technologists meets at Bakersfield campus

On Aug. 8, 15 Bakersfield Surgical Technology students, graduates and instructors hosted California State Assembly (CA-SA) Board members on campus for their quarterly meeting. CA-SA provided breakfast and SJVC’s Surg Tech program provided beverages and a meeting place for a half-day meeting that introduced Surgical Technology students to their organization.

CA-SA is an important organization to those getting into the field of surgical technology. CA-SA’s Mission Statement declares that their goal is to “bring together Surgical Technologists and other health professionals and organizations to promote quality patient care.”

“CA-SA’s purpose is to uphold the standards of the Surgical Technology organization,” says Patricia Siefkas, Bakersfield’s Surgical Technology Program Director. “Member representatives shared with the students the importance of becoming active in the organization that promotes professional standards and credentials within the field they have chosen – Surgical Technology.”

The California State Assembly for the Association of Surgical Technologists works for political positions that strengthen the surgical technology profession and industry. “Most important right now is getting a bill passed that recognizes the Certified Surgical Technologist (CST©) credential as a condition of employment,” says Siefkas. “Our Surgical Technology graduates who’ve earned certification would benefit from such a bill, as they would not be competing for jobs with technologists who have not earned certification.  More importantly, patients would benefit by the assurance that all Surgical Technologists in the operating room have graduated an accredited school and passed the national exam.”

The meeting ended a little after noon and both the organization and Surgical Technology students feel that their objective was met. CA-SA was able to invite students to join their organization and Surgical Technology students got a closer look at the inner-workings of their industry representatives.

“Ours were mostly first-year students, and they were very excited about learning more and being a part of one of the organizations that is so vital to their profession,” says Patricia. “All of them immediately got on their phones and went onto CA-SA’s website to ‘like’ them; and I thought that was appropriate for the youth of today.”

CA-SA’s annual conference will be held on Oct. 27 at the Universal City Hilton, where an average of 100 attendees will have the opportunity to network and earn CEUs (continuing education units) during educational components of this event.

Patricia Siefkas expects to see many of her Surgical Technology graduates there. “I would say a good 80% of all Surgical Technologists in our Bakersfield community came from this school,” says Siefkas. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years. They are all my students, all my graduates.”