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Surgical Assistants
Prepares the operating room and hands instruments to surgeons during operations.
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Surgical technologists set up sterile instruments and equipment, help the surgical team during operations, and keep everything sterile and counted. They work in hospital operating rooms and surgery centers.
Open the surgical technologist guide
The guide checks the courses against your plan, with things to try each year. Free account needed.
High school courses that build toward it
- Physical Education · Health and PE
Builds teaching and training, which this job uses.
- Anatomy and Physiology · Science
Builds health and medicine, which this job uses.
- Child Development · Career and Technical
Builds teaching and training, which this job uses.
- English 10 · English
Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.
- Computer Science Principles · Computer Science
Builds computers and electronics, which this job uses.
- Calculus · Math
Builds math, which this job uses.
Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.
Surgical Assistants on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.