The Surgical Technology Program is a limited enrollment program. This means that you are conditionally accepted into the Surgical Tech program providing you pass A&P II and Microbiology with a 2.0 or higher in your second general education semester. Students are permitted to retake these courses once and delay their start to the next semester if unsuccessful on their first attempt.

As part of our program, all students will sit for a certification exam and have a certification prep-course as part of their program to help them prepare.  
Students of the UPMC School Of Surgical Technology are eligible to sit for the CERTIFICATION AS A TECH IN SURGERY – CERTIFIED TS-C (NCCT) through NCCT (National Center for Competency Testing) upon graduation.
If we are successful in obtaining our grant of accreditation, students will sit for the Surgical Technologist National Certification Exam from the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA) 

This course is designed for students to learn rhetorical terminology and concepts to describe and practice writing for a variety of audiences, genres, and technologies. Students will develop their own writing process for drafting, evaluating, revising, and editing their work. This course emphasizes critical reading of college-level texts and the development of information literacy skills. These skills include reading, summarizing, and evaluating sources for relevance and reliability (information literacy). Students will develop knowledge of and practice the fundamentals of grammar, punctuation, sentence, and paragraph structures and will develop an understanding of the fundamentals of MLA and APA documentation style and formatting. Students who successfully complete this course will be prepared to take SKW102 Foundations of Writing II. 3 credits 

This course provides students with a working knowledge of medical terminology by exploring the root words, suffixes and prefixes of the vocabulary used in healthcare settings. Students review the nervous, skeletal, cardiovascular, muscle and other major systems of the human body, and they discuss terms related to physiology, anatomy, and pathological conditions. 

A set of two courses designed for the biology major preparing for careers in perfusion technology, the health professions, or forensic science. These comprehensive courses cover the anatomical structure of all major systems of the body and the physiological and homeostatic mechanisms that are associated with their functions. Three hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week. 4 credits each 

A course designed to provide students with an introduction to the biology of microorganisms, particularly bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths, and viruses that are agents of human disease. Emphasis is on the biological bases for clinical activities in disinfecting and sanitation, infection control and prevention, and antimicrobial chemotherapies. Host defenses, the immune response, and immunotherapies are also examined. Includes practical experience in bacteriological and immunological lab techniques. Three hours of lecture and one two-hour lab per week. 4 credits 

This course is designed to introduce students to the knowledge and skills needed to communicate effectively in both personal and professional situations, using traditional (face-to-face) and digital mediums. Students will study the essential concepts and models of communication, while designing and presenting formal presentations. Topics include interviewing; ethics; nonverbal communication; team building; visual aids; demonstrating appropriate use of ethos, pathos, and logos in the organization; and delivery of a presentation, demonstrating college-level research and critical thinking skills. All students will deliver individual and group presentations. It is recommended that this course be completed during the first year of study. 3 credits

Course description coming soon.

This course is designed to study the fundamental skills required to understand quantitative information in personal, societal, and career contexts, and to use this information to effectively form conclusions, judgments, or inferences. These skills include the ability to consume quantitative information presented in many formats as well as the ability to articulate arguments using quantitative evidence to a variety of audiences. Topics include critical thinking, number sense, statistical interpretation, basic probability, graphic representation, and analysis of data. Students will have the opportunity to consider the ethical issues surrounding the use of data as engaged citizens of the world. It is recommended that this course be completed during the first year of study. 3 credits 

 In Surgical Theory II, students learn indications of emergency situations, how to prioritize responses, All-Hazard Preparation, science of pharmacology, medications in the operating room, anesthesia, patient monitoring, hemostasis, wound healing, wound care, and diagnostic procedures. Upon successful course completion, students will be able to explain different emergency situations, describe the deferent methods of anesthesia, hemostasis, stages of wound healing, wound closure methods and various diagnostic procedures and it relates to the perioperative setting.

This course is the focuses on the general, obstetric, and gynecologic, ophthalmic, and laparoscopic procedures. The student will learn to identify the names and uses of instruments, supplies, and drugs of each specialty; describe the pathology and related terminology of each system or organ that prompts surgical intervention, discuss preoperative diagnostic procedures related surgical procedures. Upon successful course completion, students will be able to apply their perioperative knowledge in a lab setting for General, OB/GYN, and Ophthalmic procedures.

This course is the logical continuation of Surgical Procedures I and will focus on the otorhinolaryngologic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and Genitourinary surgery procedures. The student will learn the names and uses of instruments, supplies, and drugs of each specialty; describe the pathology and related terminology of each system or organ that prompts surgical intervention, discuss preoperative diagnostic procedures related surgical procedures. Upon successful course completion, students will be able to apply their perioperative knowledge in a lab setting for ENT, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and genitourinary procedures.

This course is the logical continuation of Surgical Procedures I and will focus on the otorhinolaryngologic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and Genitourinary surgery procedures. The student will learn the names and uses of instruments, supplies, and drugs of each specialty; describe the pathology and related terminology of each system or organ that prompts surgical intervention, discuss preoperative diagnostic procedures related surgical procedures. Upon successful course completion, students will be able to apply their perioperative knowledge in a lab setting for ENT, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and genitourinary procedures.

Clinicals are supervised clinical experiences in local hospital surgical settings focusing on gaining surgical technologist experience on minor surgical procedures and fulfilling the weekly objectives. Students will complete a minimum of 120 surgical cases across 2 terms of clinical experiences with each course introducing a new variety of case types for students to meet the required number of total cases, total first scrubs, and total second scrubs. Clinical II adds more advanced procedures.
Students are in the Operating Room Monday through Thursday and in class for review, lecture, and submitting paper work on Fridays. Students also participate in a certification exam preparatory curriculum on Fridays during clinicals.

Our students have lab experiences in our real life operating rooms and being integration into the OR from the beginning, gaining hundreds of hours in the OR before they begin clinicals. In other programs, students only see the OR for the first time when they start clinicals. This unique experience sees our students better prepared when they start their clinicals and leads to better learning outcomes.

Our students have learning experiences with our state of the art Robotics fleet and are exposed to transplants, trauma, thoracic, orthopedics, and more.  

Pittsburgh Campus: Our core clinical sites are UPMC Presbyterian/Montefiore, UPMC Mercy, and UPMC Passavant.Additionally, students will have potential to perform surgical cases at:● UPMC South Surgery Center● UPMC East● UPMC Shadyside● UPMC Magee● UPMC Childrens for students interested in pediatrics

Clinicals are completed across two 8-week sections.● Monday - Thursday: Students are in surgery completing cases● Fridays: Fridays are a review day and a weekly Certification Exam Prep course.
Students cannot miss more than 2 Clinical Experience days Monday-Thursday during each section (4 days total during clinicals overall) or they may be subject to failure of the program. In the event of severe illness or extenuating circumstances, we will work with you to try and help you find make up hours but cannot guarantee you will be able to make up hours based upon preceptor availability.
Clinical Make Up Week: There is a 1 week break between clinical sections that students can use to make up cases from Clinical 1 or get in extra cases if needed.