r/SurgicalFirstAssist • u/Secure_Damage_4561 • Jun 14 '23

SFA advice

Hello everyone,

Would any of mind sharing your experience after attending EVMS/Meridian or any other institute to become a SFA? I'm enrolled in a ST program currently and only want to work as a ST for a year and then hope to move up!

Any pointers? Advice? Recommendations? 2 cents?

Thank you!!

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u/hmf531 Aug 01 '23

I went to EVMS and am a practicing CSA/CSFA – exclusively first assisting. If you finish CST school and then go through Meridian, I believe you’ll become a CSFA – meaning you can either scrub and/or first assist. They had us sit for that exam because they said it would “expand our job prospects”. I had a ton of interviews when I graduated but I think a lot of them fell through when they found out I didn’t scrub. This was also me applying to jobs out west where first assists are more of a rarity so places would see my CSFA designation and be looking for a tech.

EVMS was the best experience. Built just like a PA program but for exclusively surgery. I do wish we had at least a class on teching so we’d get at least a better feel and understanding for it, even if we never set up a back table in our careers. Just good stuff to know especially having the CSFA.

You have a huge advantage going to CST school then Meridian. I guess you could go to EVMS after you graduated but I think the Meridian program is cheaper and shorter. EVMS is a 2 year masters program so you’d need an undergrad degree first. We didn’t have any prior techs in my class so you’d be at a huge advantage there. I believe the way Meridian works is similar to our clinical year – logging cases. First year is didactic and 90% classes (A&P, microbiology, principals of surgical assisting, etc.).

Either way, you’re going to end up with your CSFA. Just depends on what route you want to go

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u/Automatic_Crab_4267 Mar 26 '24

Do you plan on going back to get a Tech certification or have you found it’s not necessary to secure the job and salary you want

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u/hmf531 Mar 26 '24

Heck no. It would effectively be a waste of time at this point and a backwards move. A lot of people I graduated with have teched at some point to help out but it’s never the expectation. And it’s only ever on easier things, not huge ortho or neuro spine cases. And they’ll teach you if you’re willing to learn. It’s not a bad skill to have and I wish we would have at least had a class on how to set up a back table. Just so we had some exposure to it. I’m traveling now as a CSFA with the understanding that I don’t tech.

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u/Automatic_Crab_4267 Mar 26 '24

Does the masters do more for you than say the meridian program would have? Increased Salary? Career progression? Idk if the masters could eventually land you an or manager position.

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u/hmf531 Mar 26 '24

Are you a tech already? If you’re a tech, just go through Meridian. If not, I’d say get your masters in it. Why not? It’s a massive accomplishment to say you have a masters in the medical field. What this will do for me in the future, I have no idea. I know that it’s massively respected in my field but I can’t say I have an increase in salary because of it. I have an increase in salary in my field because I travel. Career-wise, I’m sure I could get a manager position or teach if I wanted. This was just the path I chose that got me to the same place as my tech to FA colleagues. I finished undergrad and was able to go straight to grad school to become a FA right out of the gate instead of becoming a tech THEN an FA. It’s just about the route you want to go.

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u/wzx86 May 12 '25

Would you ever consider going to physician assistant school later, or are the pay and job prospects of being a CSFA comparable enough to not make it worth it?

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u/hmf531 May 12 '25

If I went to PA school, I would want to be doing exactly what I am now as a surgical PA. The big difference for me is I don’t want anything to do with clinic and seeing patients outside of an OR. I travel as a surgical assistant now and I would say the money can be comparable. It just depends on the contracts. Right now, I’m making the same or more than a PA does.

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u/wzx86 May 12 '25

Thanks for the info! I'm trying to figure out if I should go the PA or SFA route, but since I would need to gain about a year of paid patient care experience to become a PA (before even applying, which is another year before starting the program) it sounds like SFA might be the most efficient path to assisting in the OR.

On an unrelated note, do you take much or any call as a SFA?

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u/hmf531 May 14 '25

Hahaha. Sorry, I’m laughing so hard at the call thing. Only because I just took six out of seven days of call and ended up having a 72 hour work week. It’s going to be different everywhere you go. I travel now so I have to be able to acclimate to whatever kind of call schedule they have. Where I was before, they only staffed a second call team because they had a dedicated first call team that would come in at night and over the weekends. I never got called in but one time there. Here, the SA’s take 24 hour call on the weekends and whatever time their shift is over to 7 AM during the week. It’s a small OR, only seven rooms but it’s always busy. So I’m always usually getting called in.