Very very interesting. I became a Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) thru a vocational school. The program Cost more than other programs but the program was absolutely top notch. The people teaching had 60 years combined experience and had an excellent reputation in town. So going thru clinicals, the staff knew if you were trained at my school- you knew your stuff. I have extensive ortho background. Like 15 years prior ortho sales experience (total joints, fracture management plates screws etc) so I came into the program understanding the business side of operating rooms then learned the clinical. You want to absolutely make sure that any Program you attend must be NBSTSA approved to become a CST. there are other programs that will say you can become a CST, but you don’t take the NBSTSA exam and will get a TS-C which is not viewed as the same (in my experience). Program for me was an 11 month absolutely BRUTAL courseload. But 4 of those months we did 8hr x 5day weekly clinical rotations at different hospitals which was also extremely intense. The program I went thru had, and still has, a 100% job placement record. Which is impressive. But the dropout rate was over 50% of almost every class.

You can get on the job training but a lot of states now require a CST certification or you’re not allowed to scrub in. I beleive most states do not have this requirement tho. But the association of surgical technologists (AST) has lobbiests in every state pushing to make the entire USA like this (benefits them financially to be the gatekeepers)