About the Surgical Assistant SurgiNet^™ Program

Online distance learning students start the first day of every month. Nine First Assist Courses (SN201 - SN209) must each be completed in a one-month period. Only one (1) Course is available to all students each month. With our open entry system, a student may enter the surgical first assist program, start with the currently available Course, and will complete all Courses as they occur in the rotation. Once in the surgeon assistant program, there are no prerequisites for each Course. If the student fails or has an incomplete, they will have to repeat said Course the next time it occurs in the rotation. SN200 must be completed no later than 2 weeks after the program start date. RP210 may be completed at any time before graduation.

About the Surgical Assistant SurgiEdge^™ Program

The student will make their own arrangements with the hospital where they work and/or another local medical facility to do their multi-specialty clinical internship. A Clinical Affiliate Agreement must be signed by the authorized clinical facility representative. This is an agreement between the hospital and ACE First Surgical Assistant School, which allows the student to get clinical experience at the hospital.

The student must have at least one clinical sponsor for each clinical rotation. These clinical sponsors agree to allow the student to function as a Surgical Assistant, provide supervision and clinical direction to the student, perform two clinical evaluations on the student, and accept full responsibility for the conduct of the student while under their supervision. The clinical internship starts only after successful completion of the 6 day hands-on Surgical SkillLab.

To complete the clinical internship, students must be the documented Surgical First Assistant on 135 cases. They must complete 35 General Surgery cases, 50 specialty cases of the student's choice, and then rotate through one or more elective specialties on ACE's First Surgical Assistant school list of specialties to complete a total of 135 cases.

Length of the Surgeon Assistant Program

A student is considered to have graduated and will receive a Certificate of Completion only after all SurgiNet, Surgical SkillLab, and SurgiEdge assignments are successfully completed and tuition is paid in full. Students are expected to complete the entire surgical first assist program within 16 months. If the student has a legitimate reason for not completing the program in the allotted time, they can submit a written request for a 6-month extension. The student is responsible for a $250 a month or 6 months for $995 extension fee.

ACE Surgical Assistant School Entrance Requirements

All enrollees must provide proof of high school diploma (or GED equivalency) or diploma of highest level of medical education completed after high school. In addition, on-the-job trained surgical technicians and graduates of non-CAAHEP accredited technician programs must submit transcripts of post-secondary level courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. Enrollees must also meet one (1) or more of the following 4 requirement categories:

• Operation Room Nurses with a license to practice in the state where they will be doing their clinical internship, two (2) years of documented recent experience in the Operating Room (OR) with scrub proficiency. or...
• Surgical Technologists who graduate from a CAAHEP accredited or military Surgical Technology program may enroll right after graduation if they can show they'll be able to get their clinical experience. or...
• Surgical Technologists (On-the-job or formally trained, including LPNs and LVNs) with at least two (2) years of documented recent scrub experience in
  the OR. or...
• Nurse Practitioners (NP), Physician Assistants (PA), Medical Doctors (MD foreign and domestic), and Osteopathic Doctors (DO). It is preferable, but not required, that these professionals have scrub experience in the OR.

Enrollment and Attendance

To enroll in the Surgical First Assistant Program offered by ACE Surgical Assisting, students must provide the following:

• Proof of high school diploma (or GED equivalency) or highest level of medical education completed after high school.
• Proof of the prerequisite post-secondary level courses as mentioned above.
• Two (2) letters of recommendation from qualified surgeons on
  practice letterhead
• Documentation of operation room experience and scrub proficiency from their place of employment on company letterhead (or this documentation can be included in the above-mentioned surgeon recommendation letters).
• A signed enrollment agreement with down payment or payment in full.

Students may enroll anytime and will start their 1st SurgiNet Course at the beginning of the month following the enrollment date. Attendance and participation should be such that the student is able to complete the surgical first assist program in the allotted 16 month period. If a student fails or does not complete SurgiNet online distance learning Courses on time, the student can make up the work to include the associated Unit Test(s) during the next rotation for that assignment.

Students are expected to arrive on time for the Surgical SkillLab each day, plan to spend a full day, and to stay late if necessary. Missing a portion(s) of the Surgical SkillLab, and/or arriving late may make it impossible to successfully complete the Surgical SkillLab. If, at the determination of the onsite instructor, the portions missed cannot be made up at that time, the student may be required to attend part or all of another Surgical SkillLab at their own expense.

SurgiEdge attendance policy should be consistent with that required by the Clinical Surgeon Sponsors and/or the clinical facility. Failure to comply may lead to termination from the surgical first assistant program.

For more information on specific requirements and features of the Surgical Assistant Training program, download the brochure and catalogue.

Sign Up Today for ACE Surgical Assistant Program

Congratulations! You're ready to take your medical career to the next level. Register now by completing the form on this page and be entered for a chance to win free tuition and download the registration packet. Or, download our brochure to get more information about the surgeon assistant program from ACE Surgical Assisting.