OR Team! Network & Blog

As the Association of Surgical Assistants pushes its efforts to unite the surgical assistant community into full swing, a call is going out to all those within the community and throughout that nation to offer their help and support to this new and growing organization. As most of you are aware, the ASA has very recently undergone substantial changes which have affected the leadership, structure, and membership of the organization. Many of our goals have changed as well as a result of this new organizational direction to establish ourselves as an autonomous entity apart from the AST. It is the aspiration of this newly reborn association to unite surgical assistants everywhere into a single voice in favor of a common end. As the face of healthcare is ever changing, we are facing many obstacles in the areas of legislation, reimbursement, visibility, and professional recognition. The time has come for all surgical assistants, regardless of whether or not their title is CFA, CSA, or SA-C, to join us in the fight to overcome these challenges. We are working closely with other professional organizations such as parallel SFA groups, state associations, government bodies, certification organizations, and others to ensure that this effort is a success. We are now calling on you to help make a difference in order to secure the future of the title that you hold. Without active members who have an earnest desire to join us in the restructuring of the ASA and the subsequent advancement of the field of the non-physician surgical first assistant, this effort will face a longer, much more difficult road. We encourage anyone with a desire to help to contact the ASA. We are looking for volunteers to assist with the planning and staffing of public events, the writing of articles and other publications, the formation of state and local assemblies, the organization of potential members, or any other service that you feel would benefit the ASA in this critical time. We would also like to invite all of you, regardless of which credential you may hold, to consider running for elected office in 2011. We openly welcome and encourage feedback from all of you. We want your ideas and comments to be heard. Interested individuals can start by simply responding to this post or by contacting Karen Ludwig at kludwig@ast.org. Together we can make the ASA a true success and provide a constant and fruitful future for surgical assistants everywhere.

Highlight any portion you want: