In today’s economy, many workers in tons of industries are experiencing layoffs, pay cuts and overall difficulty finding work. Luckily, the best time to shift careers and get into a new line of work is during a recession. With tons of industries booming and growing in today’s world of advanced technology and larger populations, it’s a perfect time to transition into a more fulfilling career in the health care industry. Health care jobs exist for every line of work, ranging from administrative jobs to physician’s assistants. Many people are finding current times to be a great opportunity to train for a surgical technician career. A surgical technician career can seem daunting and like it requires extensive training, but the reality is many surgical technician training programs can be completed in 9 to 24 months.
Surgical Technician Career Duties
Those considering a surgical technician career can expect to work mainly in hospitals. According to US Department of Labor statistics, over 70 percent of surgical technicians work out of hospitals, though it is also common to work in specialty clinics and even dental offices.
Surgical technician job description include prepping surgery tables and instruments for specialized surgeries, assisting the surgeon with instruments as well as sterilization, and usually specialize in certain types of specific surgery in order to assist with basic surgical necessities such as keeping patient airwaves open and blood flow circulating. Many surgical technicians work in multiple locations or outside of hospitals for specialty teams, such as transplant surgeons. It’s also possible for a surgical technician career to extend into administrative work for insurance companies and hospital or clinic billing industries.
Surgical Technician Career Training
Surgical technicians can gain their academic experience in college in the form of a Health Information Technology degree in the form of a 4 year or 2 year program, but these degrees oftentimes include general education and a vast amount of curriculum related to hospital front and back offices. For specialized learning, surgical technician career training will last from 9-24 months, covering courses such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and other special areas of study related to surgical equipment and operation.
Certified technicians earn more than non-certified technicians and specialty surgeries like heart or neurosurgeries will usually compensate their technicians more. A surgical technician career is likely to earn you 38-46 thousand dollars a year, according to 2008 Department of Labor statistics.
Surgical Technician Career Training Online
Many accredited programs offer certain elements of surgical technician career training online. Though hands-on learning is necessary for many applications of surgical technician’s responsibilities, courses for anatomy, physiology and pharmacology can definitely be taken online at a student’s pace while working another job. Either way, a surgical technician career can be a great way to transition into a fulfilling well-paid career in the health care industry as the average surgical technician salary is high. Surgical technician careers require fairly little training before certification can be achieved and on-the-job training can begin with hospitals, clinics or dental offices.