State Assembly of South Carolina - Association of Surgical Technology

11/02/2025

Love our students‼️

11/02/2025

SCSA Student track was a success today! Huge thanks to Marianne Caviston, CST, program director for Florence Darlington Technical College Surgical Technology Program for her “Identifying Specimens” session!

11/01/2025

SCSA has started this morning with first presentation with Dr. Srinivasan Kolla: Robotic Surgical Care for the Lung Cancer Patient.

10/24/2025

🩺 Fun Fact Friday: The Story Behind the Bookwalter Retractor

If you've worked in the OR for any length of time, you've heard of the Bookwalter. But behind the name engraved on that retractor ring was a surgeon with an inventive spirit, Dr. John R. Bookwalter, a man whose curiosity and creativity helped reshape surgical retraction and surgical care.

Dr. Bookwalter was born in Ohio in 1938. Both his grandfather and his father were physicians, and his mother was a nurse, and their influence along with an early exposure to paitent care, led him to pursue medicine as well. After graduating cm laude from Amherst College and earning his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bookwalter served his country as a surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel in the Army Reserve.

It was in the operating room that inspiration struck. Long surgeries required assistants to manually hold retractors for hours, which was not only exhausting, but could be imprecise. Dr. Bookwalter saw a better way. In the 1970s, he began developing a table-mounted retraction system that could free the assistant’s hands ad provide consistent exposure and visibility.

In 1979, the first Bookwalter Retractor System was introduced, and it quickly became an essential tool in open surgery. For more than four decades, its innovative design has stood the test of time, used in operating rooms around the world.

Dr. Bookwalter often said, “Good exposure is the key to good surgery.” His invention made that principle a reality, transforming how surgeons approach complex cases and ensuring better outcomes for patients everywhere.

Dr. Bookwalter passed away peacefully on May 2, 2025, but his legacy lives on in operating rooms around the world.

10/05/2025

Looking for dedicated individuals that share a passion for our profession !!

Now is the time to make movements in your state and your profession!!! Board Positions are open for this years Business meeting and elections! Please fill out your consent to serve, provide a curriculum vitae and get it in before the start of the business meeting: President, Vice President, Treasurer, 3 Board of Director positions.

Forms and State Bylaws can be found on the website:
http://www.scsaast.org

November 1-2, 2025 Fall Workshop
SIMT Building( Florence )

10/03/2025

Now is the time to make movements in your state and your profession!!! Board Positions are open for this years Business meeting and elections! Please fill out your consent to serve, provide a curriculum vitae and get it in before the start of the business meeting: President, Vice President, Treasurer, 3 Board of Director positions.

Forms and State Bylaws can be found on the website:
http://www.scsaast.org

November 1-2, 2025 Fall Workshop
SIMT Building( Florence )

09/25/2025

Celebrate your Certified Surgical Technologist‼️

09/21/2025

Happy Surgical Technologist week! We celebrate you this week and appreciate all that each one of you do for your patients!!

09/04/2025

Just a reminder concerning your certification and renewal needs:
CSTs are required to earn a total of 30 CE credits including 4 CE credits earned in Live CE settings and CSFAs are required to earn 38 CE credits including 8 earned in Live CE settings. For details go here: https://www.nbstsa.org/renewals-recertification

Live CE is—"All CE sessions presented at AST-Approved conferences, workshops, AST State Assembly meetings, employer in-services, grand rounds, physician professional meetings, and by manufacturers, including live or on-demand CE webinars or videos.”

Live CE processed for recertification earned at those conferences, workshops, state assembly meetings, employer in-services, grand rounds, and physician professions must be Approved by AST or otherwise comply with the AST Continuing Education Policies for the CST and CSFA.
AST will Approve Live CE for manufacturers but not on-demand CE webinars or videos.
For documentation requirements when submitting Live CE credits go here: https://www.ast.org/Members/AST_CE_Policies/.

Enhancing the profession to ensure quality patient care.

09/03/2025

The Hero Behind the Mask!!!

AST is excited to announce the theme for National Surgical Technologists Week 2025: Behind the Mask.
We’re ready to celebrate surgical technologists and NSTW is all about recognizing the difference you make every day.

To kick things off, check out our You Are Essential Contest:
• Win 1 of 3, $50 Amazon gift cards.
• Grand Prize: Free registration to the 2026 AST Surgical Technology Conference in Seattle!
Here’s the best part: BOTH the person being recognized AND the person who submitted the nomination will win if selected! Winners will be selected at random. Grand prize winners must be AST members to qualify. See all terms and conditions on our website or in the September 2025 Surgical Technologist Journal.

https://ffst.formstack.com/forms/nstw_2025

Plus, don’t forget to download your free promotional posters to help promote the celebration. Find all the details, contest entry, and poster information at ast.org.
Let’s celebrate the heroes Behind the Mask!