Posted by NeuroQueen on December 9, 2007, 10:31 am, in reply to "Re: (no subject)"
AA's are not cheap labor....they make the same pay as a CRNA...(unless the CRNA is working in a rural area)
As far as the OR being a place of training, I am a Surgical Assistant, SA-C, and have been for 7.5 years. I trained as a surgical technician in the OR and as a First Assistant in the OR... The only place that you can learn the skills of being in an OR is in the OR itself. There have been enough SRNA's that have come through my OR and do not have a clue about the.. should I say ettiquet....of being in the OR or even what types of surgeries where being done, they learned it over time....in the OR!
There is one thing that I DO agree with you on Jim, is the ability to critically think when the shnizit hits the fan. The only way to learn how to handle those kind of situations is to have been in them a couple of times. When it happens in the OR you do not have a lot of time to come up with plan.... you have seconds, and someones life is at stake. These things can be learned but it does take time. thats why I believe that AA schools should eventually require some sort of medical experience..... I believe that will change just like it has changed for Pa school. It is a preferred requirement for PA schools now.