Surgical Technology program students in lab

Collin College’s Surgical Assisting Program Receives National Accreditation

Feb. 11, 2020 – Collin College’s Surgical Assisting program received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) on Jan. 16, 2020. The college’s program is the only one in Texas and is one of only 12 programs nationwide.

“Receiving accreditation is extremely important and valuable to the program as it gives national and professional recognition that all of the rigorous guidelines and standards identified by the accrediting bodies have been achieved,” said Program Director Donna Smith. “An accredited program is readily identifiable by students, faculty, and members of the health care community as an educational entity recognized to promote quality surgical patient care through quality credible education.”

As identified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), a surgical assistant provides aid in exposure, homeostasis, closure, and other intra-operative technical functions that help the surgeon carry out a safe operation with optimal results for the patient. In addition to intra-operative duties, the surgical assistant also performs preoperative and postoperative duties to better facilitate proper patient care. During an operation a surgical assistant works under the direction and supervision of a surgeon and in accordance with hospital policy and appropriate laws and regulations.

The accreditation standards are established by CAAHEP, Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (ARC/STSA), Association of Surgical Assisting (ASA), and ACS.

Collin College serves more than 59,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 100 degrees and certificates, including new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity degrees. The only public college based in Collin County, Collin College is a partner to business, government and industry, providing customized training and workforce development. In addition, the college operates the Collin Higher Education Center, which has an enrollment of more than 3,300 each year in partnership with The University of Texas at Dallas, Texas Woman’s University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas Tech University and the University of North Texas. For more information, visit www.collin.edu.