Baker College’s Jackson campus earns national recognition for fourth consecutive year

For the fourth year in a row, Baker College’s Jackson campus has earned the annual Merit Award from the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA) based on the superior performance of its surgical technology graduates on the national certification exam. All 2016 graduates passed the exam on their first try.

In addition to achieving exceptional pass rates, all the graduates are employed in the field.

The Merit Award is presented to educational organizations that have a minimum of 90 percent of their graduates pass the Certified Surgical Technology (CST) exam on their first try in one year. The 2016 award is for the period Aug. 1, 2015, to July 31, 2016.

“This consistently high performance by our students and their excellent employment results speak to the strength of the Baker College surgical technology program,” said Steve Simpson, Ed.D., Baker College of Jackson president. “We are proud of our dedicated students who have worked diligently to prepare themselves to succeed as surgical technologists, and we are proud of our Baker College faculty and instructors who have provided quality training.”

Julie Jackson, CST, BHSA, Baker College of Jackson program director of surgical technology, said that Jackson graduates are being welcomed by a strong demand for their services in the workforce, similar to surgical technology graduates at other Baker College campuses throughout Michigan. For 2015 and 2016, all of the students from the Jackson campus were employed in the field within 30 days of graduation.

“The Baker College curriculum is extremely challenging,” she said. “For instance, students are required to identify more than 1,000 surgical instruments and know how to assist in hundreds of surgical procedures in every surgical specialty.”

Surgical technologists work under the supervision of a surgeon. They ensure the operating room is safe, equipment functions properly, and the operative procedure is conducted under conditions that maximize patient safety.

Certification as a surgical technologist allows use of the CST credential, demonstrating that the individual meets the national standard for knowledge that underlies the practice of surgical technology. It is increasingly required by employers, and is a means to achieve upward mobility, a route to higher pay and a source of professional recognition.

The CST exam is the only certification exam recognized by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies for surgical technologists. It is available only to graduates of an NBSTSA-accredited program.

The need for surgical technologists is expected to continue to grow as more operations are performed due to medical technology advances that have made surgery safer. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of surgical technologists will increase 15 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations.

For more information about the Baker College surgical technology associate degree program, contact Dan Smith in the Baker College of Jackson admissions office at The largest private college in Michigan, Baker College is a not-for-profit higher education institution accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Founded in 1911, Baker College grants doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees, as well as certificates in diverse academic fields including business, health sciences, engineering, information technology, education and human services. Baker College has on-ground campuses in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and offers online programs that can be completed 100 percent online without ever visiting a campus. In 2016, the Online Learning Consortium recognized Baker College Online with the OLC Quality Scorecard Exemplary Endorsement, the highest ranking for online higher education programs. For information, visit www.baker.edu or follow Baker College on Twitter, @bakercollege, or on Facebook, www.facebook.com/bakercollege.

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