Technical Standards
Technical Standards
The goal of the Wharton County Junior College’s
Department of Surgical Technology (ST) is to prepare students for the practice
of the profession of surgical technology. Modern
allied health education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge
be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of essential skills, functions
and professional attitudes and behavior. The
ST faculty of Wharton County Junior College have a responsibility to graduate
the best possible practitioners; therefore, admission to the ST educational
program in the College is offered only to those who present the highest
qualifications for education and training in the art and science of the
profession.
Applicants to the ST program of the College must
possess the following general qualities: critical
thinking, sound judgement, emotional stability and maturity, empathy, physical
and mental stamina, and the ability to learn and function in a wide variety of
didactic and clinical settings. Graduates
of the ST program must have the minimal skills, essential functions and
knowledge to function in a broad variety of clinical settings.
The faculty of
WCJC’s ST program have a responsibility for the welfare of the patients
treated or otherwise affected by students enrolled in the College as well as for
the educational welfare of its students relative to the educational programs of
the College. In order to fulfill
this responsibility the Department Head for the ST program of the College
maintains that certain minimal technical standards must be present in applicants
to the ST educational program of the College.
Candidates for the certificate of surgical technology must have the
following essentials: motor skills;
sensor/observational skills; communication skills; intellectual-conceptual,
integrative, and quantitative abilities; and behavioral/social skills and
professionalism. The Department
Head, in accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act
and the Americans with Disabilities Act (PL101-336) has established the
aforementioned essential functions of students in the ST educational program
offered by WCJC.
The Department Head will consider for admission
applicants who demonstrate the ability to perform, or to learn to perform, the
essential skills listed in this document. The
College must ensure that patients are not placed in jeopardy by students with
impaired intellectual, physical or emotional functions.
Students will be judged not only on their scholastic accomplishments, but
also on their physical and emotional capacities to meet the full requirements of
the College’s curricula and to graduate as skilled and effective
practitioners.
The essential abilities listed in this document
can be accomplished through direct student response, the use of prosthetic or
orthotic devices, or through personal assistance, e.g., readers, signers,
note-takers. The responsibility for
the purchase of prosthetic or orthotic devices serving a student in meeting
abilities noted remains with the student and/or agency supporting the student.
The College will assist with this accomplishment, as required by law and
institutional policy.
Upon admission, a student who discloses a
properly certified disability will receive reasonable accommodation but must be
able to perform the essential functions of the curriculum and meet the standards
described herein for the program in which the student is enrolled.
Possible accommodations include opportunities for individual and group
counseling, peer counseling, linkages with community services, faculty advisory
committees whose members are aware of disabled students and their needs, career
counseling, assistance with job searches and interview skills, and extended test
taking time, if and when appropriate. Students
seeking accommodations should initiate their request in the Office of the Vice
President of Administrative Services, WCJC.
In addition to the general standards described above, the ST program requires additional specific standards as follows:
ADDITIONAL SPECIFIC TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR
SURGICAL
TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS
Empathy, integrity, interpersonal skills,
interest, and motivation are all personal qualities necessary to function in the
surgical technology field in working with other health professionals and
supervising employees. Candidates
must possess the emotional well-being required for the full use of their
intellectual abilities: the
exercise of sound judgment; and the development of mature, sensitive, and
effective relationships with their peers, supervisors, as well as the surgeons
and other users of surgical technology services.
Candidates must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display
flexibility, and to manage under stress.
Students in the surgical technology
program must have the following minimum abilities:
