<aside> 🎨 Hey everyone!! I'm Melissa. With over 5 years of experience, I’ve been working as a certified surgical tech assisting with surgeries in several fields, such as orthopedics, neurology, and robotics.

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🌈 A Little More About Me

I'm the first in my family to have joined the military. I took up this opportunity right before I graduated college. With a degree in Biological Sciences, I had no idea what I wanted to do career-wise coming out of school. The military gave me the chance to become a certified surgical tech within 6 months of schooling. When I'm not in scrubs, you can find me with crocheting or with a good book. (Definitely, send me some good book recommendations my way!)

🎓 Becoming a Surgical Tech

Choosing the right route for yourself

Completing an Accredited Surgical Technology Program is the most common route. I have heard of some hospitals training people on the job; however, this is a more uncommon route. Typically, schools are about a yearlong and allow you to sit for the Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) exam with the NBSTSA.

I had chosen to take my program with the military, which was only a 6 month long accredited program. This consisted of 3 months of didactic training and 3 months of clinical practice.

Some tips for getting into the military program:

• You have to still apply through a military recruiter and MEPS
• When you take your ASVAB, your GT score is important! Ask a recruiter what the minimum scores are for a 68D (Operating Room Technician) MOS is
• You don’t have to accept a job offer when you take your ASVAB!! AGAIN, you do not have to accept ANY job offer when you enter MEPS to take your ASVAB. Once you take your ASVAB, you are sat down with a recruiter to review your offered jobs based on availability and your score. Personally, I took my ASVAB and did not sign an offer with the recruiters at MEPS because they didn’t offer me the MOS that I wanted. It wasn’t until I was back at my recruiter’s office that I was finally offered the 68D MOS.
• When you sign your contract, you can choose the date of your basic training start date. I had a semester of school left when I wanted to sign my contract. I had asked to postpone my basic training start date until I had finished at least half of my semester in order to finish my degree. Please keep in mind that once you start basic training, you typically have to continue into AIT (your MOS school training), unless you have a written-out exception.

Keep in mind that some civilian schools:

• May require a High School Diploma or GED
• Some schools are programs that may lead to an associate or bachelor’s degree

Once you complete a program, you can find work in various specialties, including:

• Hospitals
• Outpatient surgery centers
• Physicians’ offices