AST Continuing Education and Recertification Brochure

Healthcare-Facility Sponsored Inservices Healthcare-Facility inservices are reviewed by AST for CE credits if they are relevant to the medical-surgical practice of surgical technology or surgical assisting. The following policies apply in regard to the acceptance of inservices: • Healthcare facility orientation is not accepted for CE credits. • ACLS, ADLS, BLS, BDLS, BTLS, CPR and PALS are accepted for CE credits. (Every 50-60 minutes in length = 1 CE) • If the employer sponsors or provides funds for an employee(s) to attend a conference, forum, seminar, symposium or workshop or complete any other type of CE activity sponsored by an organization other than the healthcare facility, the program must be AST approved in order to have the CE credits count toward certification renewal. • AST accepts annual mandatory CE activities relevant to the medical/surgical practice of surgical technology and surgical assisting, eg, fire safety. • Training provided by a healthcare facility and work experience CE credits are not awarded for on-the- job training, healthcare facility orientation, or work experience that the CST and CSFA completes as an employee of the healthcare facility providing the training. Example, CST is completing on-the-job training in learning the first scrub role to be a member of the healthcare facility’s cardiovascular team. This training is distinct from attending healthcare facility sponsored inservices as described above. • Submitting Inservice CE Credits: A hospital certificate of attendance, transcript or sign-in sheet with an au- thorized signature, eg, surgery department supervisor, clinical educator or other individual authorized by the employer. The documentation should also include the name of the healthcare facility, indicate it is an inser- vice, title of inservice, date of inservice, and number of CE credits. The documentation should be submitted with the AST CE Reporting Form. 5 A S S O C I A T I O N O F S U R G I C A L T E C H N O L O G I S T S