ASTSA Student Manual

12 Appendix E ASTSA Letter to Program Directors Dear Program Director and Students: We are contacting you on behalf of the Association of Surgical Technologists Student Association (ASTSA) to invite you and your students to attend and enjoy the 20__ ASTSA Forum that will be held during the AST Annual National Conference in (city, state). When you attend the AST Annual National Conference you not only get to attend educational sessions presented by surgeons, you also have the opportunity to meet and network with CSTs who have the same desire to be the best surgical technologist possible. As students, the ASTSA Forum presents a day completely devoted to you with speakers who will talk about issues relevant to students and review session in preparation for the national certification examination. An obstacle when planning to attend the conference is of course funds. It can take a good amount of dedication and work to raise enough money for the class to attend the conference, but it can be done. Planning fund raisers and having the class participate is integral to achieving this goal. A few ideas, and I am sure you can think of plenty others, include: car wash, bake sales, providing meals, raffles, and events focusing on a holiday. In closing, we want to share that the conference is also a lot of fun. You will have the opportunity to attend the Opening Night Party and Closing Night Reception; meet students and make friends from all over the country; and the event is being held in (city, state), a city full of culture and history. In addition to the lectures offered at the ASTSA Forum the first, second, and third place winners of the T-Shirt contest for the best original design are announced, and several raffles are held. The last item to discuss is about you – we highly encourage students to consider running for an ASTSA Student Representative position. At the ASTSA Forum, the Student Representative candidates give speeches and provide an election statement to the students. Later in the afternoon students vote on the candidates; this is one of the more important business functions of the ASTSA Forum. If you become an ASTSA Student Representative, you will be given the opportunity to provide input on the planning of the next ASTSA Forum and help pave the path for those who come after you. I hope you accept our invitation to attend the 20__ ASTSA Forum!!! ASTSA Student Representatives: ______________________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________