Pre-Surgical Assistant Program

Students who are interested in surgical experiences but do not plan to go to medical school may be interested in a pre-surgical assistant program. Most programs are post-baccalaureate and require from one to two years of training.

Eastern Virginia Medical School offers a two-year pre-surgical assistant program which prepares persons as experts in assisting surgeons in surgical procedures. The first year is primary didactic teaching; the second year involves clinical experiences. Individuals who have completed this accredited program have obtained employment at hospitals throughout the USA.

Requirements

Competitive candidates will have completed

  • A baccalaureate degree in biology, chemistry, nursing
  • Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or better
  • Prior medical experiences is desirable (not required)
  • Pre-requisite courses
    • Anatomy with lab (BIOL 431 Mammalian Anatomy)
    • Physiology with lab (BIOL 442 Mammalian Physiology)
    • General Biology with lab (BIOL 281 Animal Form and Function OR BIOL 222 Molecules, Genes, and Cells)
    • General Chemistry with lab (CHEM 232 General Chemistry II)
    • Organic Chemistry with lab (CHEM 311 Organic Chemistry I)
    • Microbiology with lab (BIOL 201 Microbiology)

Available Programs

Currently, 10 pre-surgical assistant programs are available. The chart below compares these programs. The closest one to us is EVMS and probably ranks among the better of the available programs.

More Information

http://www.surgicalassistant.org/
This site describes the national surgical assistant organization and provides information about education, publications, certification, etc.

http://www.evms.edu/hlthprof/surgasst/
This site describe the pre-surgical assistant program at EVMS.