By: The Quincy Sun Staff
Source: The Quincy Sun

The Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (ARC/STSA) approved Quincy College’s request to increase the enrollment cap on its Surgical Technology program annual cohort from 15 students to 18 students. This increased enrollment of the annual cohort allows Quincy College to meet the growing need for skilled professionals in the Surgical Technology space. From an accreditation perspective, the granting of a cap increase is a significant action and reflects the accreditor’s favorable perspective of program quality.

The ARC/STSA approval process for an increased enrollment cap is extensive; Quincy College needed to demonstrate an immediate need and justify that their current facility resources like laboratory space, equipment inventories along with faculty resources, the quality of clinical sites, institutional support, and the community at large would benefit from an increase in skilled Surgical Technologists. Boston Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital, frequent sites of Quincy College’s Surgical Technology clinicals also offered their commendation and endorsement of the Surgical Technology program as a whole and the increased enrollment cap by providing letters of recommendation.

“The Surgical Technology Department as a whole at Quincy College holds this program to the highest standards, ensuring that we deliver the best possible educational experience for our students. We ensure that our students are best prepared to meet the challenges in a clinical setting. We are constantly looking to better ourselves. The increase cohort for 2016 allows Quincy College to meet our clinical partners needs by providing highly skilled professionals that can immediately help in the greater community,” stated Nathalie Fulford, Program Director for Surgical Technology at Quincy College.

As part of their program accreditation, Quincy College must meet or exceed benchmarks set by the ARC/STSA that assess the program as a whole and the positive outcomes of their students and including retention rate, job placement rate, student satisfaction, and employee satisfaction with Quincy College students’ performance in clinical work.

The Surgical Technology program is hardly a new program, having been offered since the early days of the college. However, the program’s successful outcomes can be traced to a revitalization effort starting in 2006 continuing to today. In all areas where the Surgical Technology program has been benchmarked, in the classroom, in clinical placement, and in certification exams, Quincy College has meet or exceeded expectations.

Over the last ten years, Quincy College’s Surgical Technology program is in high demand as one of the only programs located on the South Shore. The program waitlist has grown year on year for the last 5-years with students benefiting from a 100% job placement rate for the 2015 academic year. Additionally, the program had a 100% retention rate from the Fall to Spring Semesters in 2015.

Beyond the classroom, Quincy College has also successfully transitioned students to the workforce as certified professionals. The 2014 graduating cohort from Quincy College had an 85% pass rate compared to the National pass rate of 70% on the Certified Surgical Technologist Exam (CST).

In its approval letter, the ARC/STSA commended the Quincy College surgical technology program “for your dedication to providing quality education to your students as well as your commitment to maintaining the national standard.”

For more information on the Quincy College Surgical Technology program, please visit: https://quincycollege.edu/images/uploads/Certificates_HealthSciences.pdf.