Surgical technologists are not as well known as other medical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, but they play an important role in assisting surgeons during surgical procedures.
Surgical technology is a recent profession aimed at the need for trained medical personnel after a series of wars that have suffered from the world in the last century, seriously reducing their numbers. Many nurses and doctors were called upon to serve during these wars to examine the medical needs of the soldiers at the front, as well as the wounded and imprisoned in medical camps and hospitals.
Surgical technologies have grown from the ashes of the sequence of world wars that participated in the United States: World War I (1914–1918), World War II (1939–1945), Korean War (1950–1953), and Vietnam War (1945–1975). During World War I, army doctors were called in and trained to provide emergency assistance. Nurses were not allowed to serve on the battlefield, but they were tied to medical stations. Army physician in the navy was a medical corps, as at that time women were not allowed on board warships.
Thus, the role of the technicians of the operating system or ORT was created then. ORT replaced female nurses on the battlefield. They were trained through an accelerated nursing care program, in which special attention was paid to operating theater technologies and received on-the-job training in the surgery department. Their research included sterilizing instruments, caring for patients in the operating room, stitching, draping and instruments. They also received training in an emergency.
After the Korean War, the shortage of nurses to work in operating rooms in the United States led to the recruitment of former drug addicts and former corps to work in civilian hospitals. These former military men performed. Over time, this arrangement led to the evolution of the name "technician-operator", a surgical technologist.
Improvements in surgical technologies that began in the late 60s led to the formalization of the role of surgical technologists in the '70s. More and more institutions began developing and developing programs of surgical technologies. In 1968, the Association of Operating Technicians was created. consisted of two committees: the Joint Committee on Education and the Certification Communication Board for the surgical technologist. Successful subjects for the first certification test, which was given in 1970, were awarded the title of a certified operating technician (CORT or OR Tech). In 1973, the Association of Operating Technicians changed its name to the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST), which is now an independent body. Since 1973, AST has made every effort to promote excellence in the surgical technique.
In 1974, an accreditation body was created to provide quality education for the surgical technician. The Accreditation Committee for Accreditation for Surgical Technology and Surgical Aid, introduced as an entry level in surgical technology, is a two-year association. Today, aspiring surgical technologists must pass a national certification examination developed by the National Council of Surgical Technologists and Surgical Assistants (NBSTSA) in order to qualify as certified surgical technologists or CST. This certification can be renewed by re-checking.
