About our founder

ACE has a long and distinguished history of training Surgical Assistants of the highest caliber. How we got there is a story that begins long before. Dan Bump founded the very first Surgical Assistant school in the country in 1995, exclusively for working surgical professionals. It’s the story of a short, shy, goofy, nerdy, show tune loving surgical tech who was working 50 to 60 hours a week in surgery, taking everybody’s call.

At the time, Dan and his wife Ramona were struggling with how to make the monthly mortgage payments and raise their 5 kids on an annual income of $35,000. To hear him tell it, Dan had heard the Physician Assistants at his hospital were making a whopping $50,000 (that was good in the 1980’s).

If only he could make $50,000, all his financial woes would vanish. But Dan was riddled with questions like, how would he be able to afford to quit work and go to college? He didn’t even have the necessary prerequisite – a bachelor’s degree. After all, he got all his medical/surgical training in the Navy, which was great, but they weren’t handing out degrees.

So, he started thinking he was going to have to get out of surgery and into computers to make a decent living. Fortunately, a short time later Dan was making $105,000 a year in surgery working just 20 fun hours a week! That’s 3 times what he was making as a tech. Let’s let him tell you about it.

“When I first heard about surgical assisting, and that I could do it based on my training as a Surgical Tech instead of going to college, it seemed like a dream to me. I absolutely loved surgery. When I was scrubbing in, you could often hear me singing (poorly) renditions of my favorite show tunes. Surgery was a joy, and I was very happy working my surgeons and the rest of the surgical team. Working in surgery defined me. Having to leave surgery to make a better living would be a bitter pill to swallow.

Then one day in 1989 I was offered an opportunity to move to Denver, Colorado and join a group of self-employed Surgical Assistants. I decided to go ahead with the move based on 4 points: 1) I’d get to stay in surgery instead of going into computers; 2) I’d get even closer to the surgery, working hand-in-hand with the surgeon; 3) I’d make more money – turned out to be around $105,000 per year; and 4) I’d be my own boss.

What pushed me over the top was the group offered training. It wasn’t a formal training program like you see today. It was more of an apprenticeship. Back in 1989 there were no formal programs, at least for working professionals. Formal training to first assist in surgery, would mean going to PA school.”

A Storied History

The training turned out to be very good. The owner of the group wanted to put the best assistants out into the Denver community and the training worked well for that purpose. It worked so well surgeons would literally get addicted to having their favorite assistant in the group for their cases. They wouldn’t settle for anything less.

This training was perfect for Dan, as you can see, because it gave him the 2 objectives he needed to stay in surgery: 1) he got to do things in surgery he thought he never could unless he became a surgeon; and 2) he made more money than he ever thought he could unless he became a surgeon. This apprenticeship was so successful that there wasn’t a single participant who didn’t achieve career and financial success as a result. Dan continues.

“This training was so valuable to me and yet we were only training 1 or 2 people a year so they could work for our group. This seemed sinful to me. We should be enrolling more so they could advance their surgical careers and still work at their current hospitals. The owner didn’t care much for the idea, but he let me give it a try to see what happened.

Ultimately, he discontinued the program and went back to the way he liked better and was much more comfortable with. But I couldn’t stop dreaming of a Surgical Assistant school where anybody qualified could enroll and get the same results I did – getting closer to the surgical action and making more money. So, I started one.”

The first school Dan started was called the Nation Institute of First Assisting (NIFA). With the help of his partner who was expert as sales and marketing, they were able to get the message out. And students came flocking to this new school with a new kind of Surgical Assistant Program. NIFA trained thousands of Surgical Techs and OR Nurses in either the techniques of wound closure or to become full fledged Surgical Assistants.

Since this was the very first Surgical Assistant Program for working Surgical Techs and OR Nurses, Dan Bump became known as the father of Surgical Assistant training. Later, PA’s, NP’s, and MD’s heard about us by word-of-mouth and online searching. They began enrolling as well.

Unfortunately, Dan and his partner began having issues with each other and the situation soon became intolerable. Dan left and started what is now known as ACE Surgical Assisting. This move created an environment where innovation could thrive, much needed improvements could be implemented, and ACE students are receiving the rewards. The mission is being fulfilled.

The ACE Mission

Dan’s experience as a self-employed Surgical Assistant, starting and running NIFA – the country’s first Surgical Assisting school, and now ACE Surgical Assisting has led him to create and be driven by The ACE Mission. This unique and powerful mission has at its roots the ideal of Surgeon-Level skills and performance and Surgeon-Level income. So, here is the ACE Mission Statement:

“ACE makes surgeon-level skills and income attainable for non-physicians in surgery

and unlicensed physicians. ACE’s world-class surgical training is at the heart of phenomenal

alumni success, which results in safer surgeries and improved surgical outcomes.”

Can you picture the stakeholders of your training – yourself, your patients, your surgeons, and your hospital as benefiting in a big way from The ACE Mission? You can get started right away just by clicking here to find out how. Or Return to Home.

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An Amazing Future Lies Ahead

 

Start Your Own Business

Most people come to ACE for career advancement at their hospital or to prepare for a position with their surgeon who offered to employ them after their training is complete. But we also have a different pathway for you if you want to step out and become a self-employed Surgical Assistant.

Being an excellent Surgical Assistant doesn’t mean you can start, run, and grow a successful Surgical Assisting business. But we can help. We have the assisting and business expertise you need to achieve your greatest success.  

More Training and Credentials Opportunities

While systems are already in place to help you successfully start, run, and grow your own Surgical Assisting business, we have other plans that are a little more in the future.

Many of you have expressed the desire to increase your education beyond the general Surgical Assistant Program. Goals for the future include the creation of courses like the Surgical Assistant Program for our alumni such as:

• Orthopedics
• OB/GYN
• Urology
• Bariatrics
• Ortho spine
• Neurosurgery
• Robotics
• Microsurgery

The only prerequisite for enrolling in any of these courses will be that you first successfully complete the ACE Surgical Assistant Program. These are ACE alumni only courses. We will also be coming out with online continuing education offerings to support credential maintenance. However, the goal of these CE courses isn’t just to earn credits towards certification. That seems to be the objective of most of these offerings in our industry.

Our goal is to make CE training a nurturing and growing experience. You should feel you are more after the training than before.

The future of ACE and ACE alumni is a bright one. We can’t wait to experience it together with you. So, if you have any recommendation for future ACE offerings, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Return to Home…

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