Principles of Practice and Introduction to Surgical Procedures

This course is offered over an eight-week long session and composed of 4 credit hours (8 hrs/wk) of classroom didactic instruction and 4 credit hours (16 hrs/wk) of operating room experience at a preselected healthcare facility. This course presents concepts of general surgical patient care and basic case preparation and procedures, and focuses on introducing students to the surgical technologist role within an operating room environment. Topics covered include: hemostasis, wound healing, wound closure, biomedical science, minimally invasive surgery, diagnostic procedures, special populations, the surgical patient, and emergency situations and all-hazard preparation. In clinical laboratory settings, emphasis is placed on pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative phases of commonly performed and less complicated surgical procedures.