Tarrant County College Trinity River’s Surgical Technology program has earned a continuing 10-year reaccreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), based upon the recommendation of the Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (ARC/STSA).
“We are extremely proud of our Surgical Technology Program,” said Thomas Mills, vice president of academic affairs for TCC Trinity River. “It is one of our founding flagship programs and has served students and our community for over 50 years.”
Housed at TCC Trinity River East Campus, the Surgical Technology program was the first CAAHEP-accredited program in the nation.
“ARC/STSA site visitors were very impressed with our state-of-the-art facilities and top-notch surgical equipment in our lab,” said Cindy Mask, program director of surgical technology. “They were very impressed that we have been an accredited program for 50 years and the first Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education (CAAHEP) program in the nation.”
Former students and hospital personnel contacted for comment provided glowing reports that reinforced TCC’s commitment to training superior certified surgical technologists, according to Mask. “They understood that these accomplishments were achieved from the College’s support and administration support,” she explained.
Graduates of the program are eligible to take the certification exam of the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA). Graduates of TCC’s program have had a 100-percent pass rate on the NBSTSA exam for 2019. The national average is approximately 70 percent. Many of the healthcare facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have employed graduates of TCC’s surgical technology program.
Surgical technologists have a variety of employment opportunities including, but not limited to, operating room surgical technologist, employment in material management or sterile processing, medical salesperson and organ and tissue procurement technician. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of surgical technologists is expected to grow 5 percent through 2028, faster than the national average. The annual median salary for surgical technologists was $47,300 in May 2018.
For information about TCC’s Surgical Technology program, visit their webpage or contact Cindy Mask at 817-515-2403 or cindy.mask@tccd.edu.