An assistant-at-surgery is the surgeon's reliable right hand inside the operation room. They work beside surgeons to provide aid during surgical operations and procedures.
Their job starts even before the surgery itself. The assistant at-surgery sets up the operation room and prepares the patient's chart and documentation. They also sterilize and organize surgical tools, ensuring that they are clean and safe to use.
During surgeries, they keep an eye on electronic equipment to monitor and report the status of the patient's vital signs. And as the procedure continues, they may also help administer injections, stitch up wounds, and take part in patient resuscitation efforts.
To be an efficient assistant-at-surgery, they need to be attentive, dedicated, and cooperative. Typically, they render 40 hours in a workweek and cover long shifts. They may also report to work on holidays and weekends.
To pursue a career as an assistant-at-surgery, candidates must hold an associate degree in surgical technology along with the necessary certification. They ascend to this position from spending at least three years in the operating room as registered nurses, technicians, or physician assistants.
What is an Assistant-At-Surgery?
What Does an Assistant-At-Surgery Do
There are certain skills that many assistants-at surgery have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, technical skills and detail oriented.
How To Become an Assistant-At-Surgery
If you're interested in becoming an assistant-at-surgery, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.1% of assistants-at surgery have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.4% of assistants-at surgery have master's degrees. Even though some assistants-at surgery have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Assistant-At-Surgery Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an assistant-at-surgery can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as medical assistant, progress to a title such as registered nurse and then eventually end up with the title nursing director.
Average Salary for an Assistant-At-Surgery
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Assistant-At-Surgery Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active assistant-at-surgery jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where assistants-at surgery earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Assistant-At-Surgery Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 4,949 | $51,159 |
| 2 | California | 3,974 | $87,200 |
| 3 | Texas | 3,661 | $75,362 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 2,897 | $70,997 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 2,537 | $100,936 |
| 6 | New York | 2,532 | $94,538 |
| 7 | Washington | 2,237 | $55,275 |
| 8 | Ohio | 2,236 | $55,955 |
| 9 | Illinois | 2,230 | $55,617 |
| 10 | Georgia | 2,194 | $54,384 |
| 11 | Michigan | 1,885 | $58,638 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 1,878 | $57,785 |
| 13 | Indiana | 1,780 | $48,733 |
| 14 | New Jersey | 1,687 | $83,929 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 1,629 | $48,995 |
| 16 | Virginia | 1,488 | $70,137 |
| 17 | Arizona | 1,471 | $90,591 |
| 18 | Colorado | 1,445 | $43,496 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 1,420 | $55,698 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 1,227 | $50,184 |
| 21 | Missouri | 1,168 | $41,074 |
| 22 | Connecticut | 1,114 | $88,879 |
| 23 | Maryland | 922 | $85,836 |
| 24 | South Carolina | 795 | $51,838 |
| 25 | Oregon | 777 | $70,666 |
| 26 | Kentucky | 727 | $52,796 |
| 27 | Iowa | 710 | $45,580 |
| 28 | Kansas | 689 | $50,416 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 660 | $48,349 |
| 30 | Louisiana | 643 | $65,101 |
| 31 | Alabama | 610 | $49,966 |
| 32 | New Hampshire | 603 | $77,912 |
| 33 | Arkansas | 564 | $48,638 |
| 34 | Utah | 529 | $57,169 |
| 35 | West Virginia | 447 | $55,783 |
| 36 | Maine | 434 | $69,516 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 375 | $36,052 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 325 | $81,616 |
| 39 | Idaho | 301 | $48,001 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 299 | $88,809 |
| 41 | Mississippi | 282 | $62,318 |
| 42 | Nevada | 232 | $84,451 |
| 43 | Montana | 209 | $32,541 |
| 44 | Delaware | 197 | $73,754 |
| 45 | South Dakota | 143 | $35,393 |
| 46 | Alaska | 137 | $31,828 |
| 47 | Vermont | 134 | $67,891 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 134 | $37,706 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 119 | $80,121 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 52 | $33,484 |
Top Skills For an Assistant-At-Surgery
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 39.1% of assistants-at surgery listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and technical skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Assistant-At-Surgery Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Assistant-At-Surgery templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Assistant-At-Surgery resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Assistant-At-Surgery Demographics
Assistant-At-Surgery Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among assistants-at surgery, 74.5% of them are women, while 25.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among assistants-at surgery is White, which makes up 51.6% of all assistants-at surgery.
- The most common foreign language among assistants-at surgery is Spanish at 69.7%.
Online Courses For Assistant-At-Surgery That You May Like
1. Introduction to Cataract Surgery
This comprehensive course will give you the fundamental knowledge needed to begin performing cataract surgery by phacoemulsification and extracapsular removal. Each step from preoperative evaluation to postoperative care will be covered to help prepare you for the operating room...
See More on Coursera2. Transgender Medicine for General Medical Providers
The course is a comprehensive set of didactic lectures surveying fundamentals of transgender medical and surgical treatment. The material is meant to provide the student with core knowledge that is essential for current primary care providers caring for transgender patients. There are 10 modules led by the expert clinical faculty from the pioneering Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, located within the Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
See More on Coursera3. The Basics of Trauma Surgery
This course imparts a wide range of basic knowledge and skills in the field of trauma surgical and orthopedic treatment of patients. To facilitate this, the course employs a new concept of information transfer. We follow a scientific approach and a sophisticated combination of modern teaching methods to vividly impart the taught contents. This included case-based learning, comprehensive factual knowledge, and consecutive quizzes, which help to better memorize the learned contents and later...
See More on CourseraBest States For an Assistant-At-Surgery
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an assistant-at-surgery. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, and Connecticut. Assistants-at surgery make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $100,936. Whereas in New York and Arizona, they would average $94,538 and $90,591, respectively. While assistants-at surgery would only make an average of $88,879 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$100,936
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$88,879
Avg. Salary
3. Arizona
$90,591
Avg. Salary
How Do Assistant-At-Surgery Rate Their Jobs?
Top Assistant-At-Surgery Employers
Most Common Employers For Assistant-At-Surgery
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overlake Medical Center & Clinics | $143,924 | $69.19 | 2 |
| 2 | Nursing Care Services | $131,822 | $63.38 | 2 |
| 3 | Norman Regional Health System | $105,460 | $50.70 | 4 |
| 4 | University of Illinois Springfield | $97,674 | $46.96 | 4 |
| 5 | Columbia University in the City of New York | $95,520 | $45.92 | 15 |
| 6 | Massachusetts General Hospital | $94,458 | $45.41 | 15 |
| 7 | Staten Island Academy | $90,058 | $43.30 | 2 |
| 8 | Cleveland Clinic | $83,128 | $39.97 | 4 |
| 9 | University of Mississippi Medical Center | $79,711 | $38.32 | 2 |
| 10 | Bright Now! Dental | $74,231 | $35.69 | 2 |
Assistant-At-Surgery Videos
