How to hire a surgical assistant

How to hire a surgical assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step surgical assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a surgical assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new surgical assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a surgical assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your surgical assistant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a surgical assistant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A surgical assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, surgical assistants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of surgical assistant salaries for various roles:

   Type of Surgical Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Surgical Assistant	A Surgical Assistant provides assistance during an operation by performing a wide range of crucial tasks. They cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field and adjust and maintain operating room parameters according to the surgeon's specifications.	$16-36
   Surgical Coordinator	Surgical coordinators are tasked to carry out administrative duties that are significant to surgical operations. These duties include keeping patient records, scheduling surgical equipment, entering post-surgical data, and surgery scheduling... Show more	$12-23
   Surgical Nurse	Generally, a surgical nurse provides patient care before, during, and after surgery. Surgical nurses assist the surgeons and anesthetists whenever necessary... Show more	$18-49

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Patient Care
   • Vital Signs
   • CPR
   • Infection Control
   • Insurance Verification
   • Pre-op
   • General Anesthesia
   • Surgical Instruments
   • DR
   • Aseptic Technique
   • Suturing
   • Catheter

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage medical records and document examination notes, prescriptions, and procedure details in EMR.
   • Manage surgical scheduling, cataract evaluations, ultrasounds, keratometry, IOL selection, and preoperative exam for surgery.
   • Prepare patients for examination by taking their vitals, and performing EKG when need.
   • Assist with all dental procedures, order all supplies, maintain equipment and OSHA handbook.
   • Assist surgeons in surgical procedures making incisions, manipulating tissues and organs, cauterizing, suturing and dressing wounds.
   • Interview patients, review patient medical history, gather and educate patients on their medications.

   More surgical assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the surgical assistant job description is a good way to get more applicants. A surgical assistant salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a surgical assistant in Idaho may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level surgical assistant. Additionally, a surgical assistant with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average surgical assistant salary

   $52,170yearly

   $25.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level surgical assistant salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average surgical assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$62,965	$30
   2	California	$60,288	$29
   3	New Mexico	$58,895	$28
   4	Texas	$57,619	$28
   5	Illinois	$56,819	$27
   6	Oklahoma	$53,516	$26
   7	Michigan	$51,540	$25
   8	Colorado	$51,506	$25
   9	Tennessee	$50,872	$24
   10	North Carolina	$49,738	$24
   11	Maryland	$49,628	$24
   12	Missouri	$49,198	$24
   13	Ohio	$48,503	$23
   14	Florida	$48,211	$23
   15	Minnesota	$48,012	$23
   16	Nebraska	$47,789	$23
   17	Kentucky	$47,674	$23
   18	Wisconsin	$47,437	$23
   19	North Dakota	$46,807	$23
   20	Washington	$44,630	$21

   Average surgical assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Baptist Health Care	$79,090	$38.02	1
   2	Novant Health	$68,445	$32.91	23
   3	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$66,226	$31.84	2
   4	Chesapeake Regional Healthcare	$66,073	$31.77
   5	University of Maryland Medical System	$64,696	$31.10	9
   6	CHKD Thrift Store	$64,437	$30.98
   7	Northwell Health	$64,418	$30.97	37
   8	Halifax Health	$64,096	$30.82	9
   9	Hancock Wellness	$63,909	$30.73
   10	Carle Foundation	$62,571	$30.08	55
   11	Southwest General	$62,371	$29.99	1
   12	Baptist Health Home Care	$61,946	$29.78	15
   13	Swedish Hospital	$61,929	$29.77	3
   14	Henry Ford Health System	$61,847	$29.73
   15	Health Alliance	$61,726	$29.68	14
   16	Mount Sinai Health System	$61,548	$29.59	7
   17	Mercy Children's Hospital	$61,455	$29.55	1
   18	HealthTrust	$61,351	$29.50	32
   19	Kettering Health Network	$61,190	$29.42	7
   20	LifePoint Health	$60,904	$29.28	73

4. Writing a surgical assistant job description

   A surgical assistant job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a surgical assistant job description:

   Surgical assistant job description example

   Job Schedule: Full Time
   Standard Hours: 40
   Job Shift: Shift 1
   Shift Details: mon-fri
   
   

   Get MORE from your career with Hartford HealthCare

   Hartford HealthCare, the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, has a new opportunity for a Surgical Oncology Physician Assistant, to join our growing team to provide intraoperative and floor coverage at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT.

   Some highlights of this opportunity include:

   • The Physician Assistant provides care to surgical patients including breast surgery, and cosmetic surgery. Practice settings include intraoperative first assist, floor management including procedures and discharges, and patient follow up visits in ambulatory practice setting. On-call responsibilities may be included.
   • Opportunities for professional advancement / trainings through Hartford HealthCare's unique relationship with Memorial Sloan Kettering.
   • Competitive compensation, matching 401k, tiered medical, and CME reimbursement.
   • We support your development and wellbeing through the respected Hartford HealthCare's Office of Advanced Practice - an internal organization committed to the growth and development of our Advanced Practitioners , and the groundbreaking Office of Provider Wellness.

   Hartford HealthCare (HHC) Cancer Institute is a fully certified member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Alliance. The MSK Cancer Alliance is an initiative designed to establish partnerships between MSK and local care providers. Through the open collaboration that is facilitated by these partnerships, community cancer caregivers are in a better position to provide state of the art, evidence-based cancer care to improve the lives of cancer patients. Together, the Hartford Healthcare Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering stay ahead of cancer.

   There are no limits to what you can achieve when you join the Cancer Institute at Hartford HealthCare. The extensive capabilities of the most integrated healthcare system in CT offers Oncology Physician Assistants MORE OPPORTUNITY as you practice with nationally respected colleagues in a progressive, physician-led environment. Our broad network includes seven acute care hospitals including one of the largest academic and surgical hospitals in the northeast, thriving community teaching hospitals, and one of the largest multi-specialty medical groups in New England with more than 1,000 providers.

   This means MORE OPTIONS to propel your career to new heights and all within a deeply embedded culture of inclusion, innovation, and focus on the highest quality of care. We are teachers, researchers, innovators, leaders and, most of all, caregivers.

   Located between Boston and New York City, Connecticut offers you and your family access to a lifestyle that is second to none. Enjoy the finest schools in the nation, four beautiful seasons of recreational activities, and options to live at the shore, in leafy suburbs, or in vibrant urban areas. To put MORE GROWTH IN YOUR CAREER, apply today!

   Qualifications

   • Eligibility to be licensed in Connecticut as a Physician Assistant (PA) is required.
   • Eligibility to be certified as a Physician Assistant (PA) is required.
   • Surgical PA experience is required.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right surgical assistant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with surgical assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit surgical assistants who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your surgical assistant job on Zippia to find and attract quality surgical assistant candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit surgical assistants, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new surgical assistant

   Once you've decided on a perfect surgical assistant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new surgical assistant. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a surgical assistant?