Health Tech Academy Blog

Surgical techs need technical skills, such as sterile technique, instrument knowledge, anatomy and infection control, and soft skills, such as

The Tech in Surgery – Certified, TS-C (NCCT), is a national surgical technologist certification from the National Center for Competency Testing. Y

First, confirm your exam: the CST from the NBSTSA (175 questions, 4 hours), the TS-C from the NCCT (175 questions) or the NRST from American

Yes, for most people who want a fast, hands-on way into healthcare. Surgical technologists earned a median of $64,650 in May 2025, jobs

A surgical tech prepares the operating room, keeps the sterile field safe, and passes instruments and supplies to the surgeon during surgery.

To become a surgical tech, you need a high school diploma or GED, a surgical technology program (a certificate, diploma or associate degree),

A certified surgical technologist is a surgical tech who has passed a national certification exam. The best-known credential is the

A surgical tech externship usually takes several months, and it is measured in cases more than hours. Programs accredited by CAAHEP

Most surgical techs start in general surgery, then advance by specializing in areas such as CVOR or labor and delivery, taking travel contracts,

To become a surgical tech in Texas, complete an accredited surgical technology program, usually a 12 to 24 month certificate or associate degree,

Surgical tech programs in California range from 9-month certificates to 2-year associate degrees at community colleges, universities

In most hospitals, surgical technician, surgical technologist and scrub tech are the same job: the person who prepares the operating

A surgical tech prepares the operating room, maintains the sterile field and passes instruments. A surgical first assistant works hands-on beside

No. There is no 6-week surgical tech program that makes you eligible for a national certification such as the CST or TS-C. Most 6-week

Surgical technologists in the U.S. earn a median salary of $64,650 a year, or about $31.08 an hour (BLS, May 2025). The lowest-paid

Becoming a surgical technologist usually takes 9 months to 2 years. Certificate programs typically run 9 to 15 months and associate

Learning how to get an externship for medical assistant roles can open doors to your first healthcare job and make you stand out to future employers.

Looking for medical billing and coding resume tips that work, even if you have no experience? Recruiters notice specific details – and with th

Confused about the differences between CPC vs CBCS vs CCS? These medical coding certifications shape your career path, salary, and where you

Searching for medical coding jobs near me in Florida? Major metros like Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville offer the highest concentration

Medical coding jobs offer more than a single track – specializing in areas like risk adjustment or surgical coding can sharply increase your ea

Medical coding certification in Texas opens the door to a career with strong demand, remote opportunities, and a median salary of $47,250, according

Medical billing salary negotiation isn’t just about base pay – savvy professionals also secure remote work, bonuses, and credential-based rais

Surgical tech programs Florida candidates choose can make or break their job prospects in a high-demand, $48,330-a-year field. The route you

Surgical tech certification renewal demands strict attention to continuing education hours, deadlines, and the rules of your certifying body.

Surgical tech clinical case requirements set the bar for certification – and the clock on how fast you can get exam-eligible. Every certifying bo

California’s market for surgical tech jobs near me pays the highest average salary in the country and employs more surgical technologists than a

No occupation is recession-proof. Some are recession-resistant, and the difference matters when you are deciding where to spend sixteen weeks

Moving from general surgery into cardiovascular work adds meaningfully to a paycheck. It does not double it. What separates the top quartile

Your credentialing clock and the practice's credentialing clock are two different clocks. Payer enrolment for a physician runs 90 to 180 days.

Burnout has a formal definition, and it surprises people. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as an occupational phenomenon rather

Most sterile processing job postings list a base salary and stop there. What they rarely mention is that the base rate is often the least interesting

In 2022, Florida Senate Bill 1828 tried to mandate credentials for Sterile Processing Technicians statewide. It died in committee. Four years

Roughly one in three people who sit for the Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) exam do not pass. The Healthcare Sterile

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) used by hospitals and surgical centers will reject a resume before any human sees it if the certification is

The Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) renews based on the month you earned it – not January 1st. If you passed your exam i

The state has no license requirement for this role. No government form, no state board, no fee to the Department of Consumer Affairs. Given that

Most surgical tech job descriptions mention sterile technique and instrument knowledge. What they do not mention is that from your first week

Most candidates preparing for Surgical Tech interviews spend 90% of their prep time on sterile field technique and instrument sets. That preparation

Florida is one of the few states that does not legally require Surgical Technologists to hold state licensure. No mandatory registration, no

Texas is one of only 18 states that legally requires certification to practice as a Surgical Technologist. That means you cannot walk into a

One of the fastest-growing healthcare careers requires no clinical hours, no scrubs, and zero patient-facing time. Medical billing and coding

Everyone picks the 'easiest' exam. Then they discover that 'easiest' and 'best for your career' are two different questions – and they wished s

The CBCS exam has a reputation for being straightforward – and that reputation is part of why people fail it. Candidates assume a few weeks o

Medical Assistants and other allied health workers make up more than 60% of the entire U.S. healthcare workforce, according to a 2026 Senate

Florida employs roughly 55,110 medical assistants (MAs) – third most in the country behind California and Texas – and yet most people searching med

California is the rare state where you can legally work as a medical assistant (MA) with zero certification – and still lose the job to someone h

You've been refreshing "medical assistant jobs texas" for weeks. The only responses coming back are automated rejections or – worse – silence. Her

Florida adds roughly 800 new residents every single day – more than half over 60. That demographic math has a direct consequence for anyone r

Texas posts more open medical assistant roles at any given moment than most states post in a year – over 4,000 on a typical week, according t

Speed is relative. A 16-week program feels slow if you're comparing it to a weekend bootcamp, but it's a sprint compared to a two-year associate

Florida ranks among the top four states in the country for sterile processing technician employment. Not fifth. Not tenth. Top four. For a role

Texas hospitals are actively competing to fill sterile processing technician jobs with qualified candidates .With roughly 3,790 sterile processing

Every surgical instrument that enters a patient's body passes through the hands of a sterile processing technician (SPT) first. It's a workflow

Texas has more hospitals than any other state in the country – 757 of them, according to a 2024 Definitive Healthcare report. It also ranks a

Somewhere between a scalpel being used in the OR and its next procedure, a sterile processing technician (SPT) makes patient safety possible.

The medical billing certification landscape has gotten crowded. There are now more than a dozen recognized credentials floating around the healthcare

Federal funding for healthcare training makes headlines, but for people who've used it, it changes careers in eight weeks. The Workforce Innovation

Hospitals aren't struggling to find surgical technologists because the interest isn't there – they're struggling because the pathway in is t

The operating room has a vacancy problem. Hospitals across the country are scaling back surgeries, closing OR (operating room) suites, and paying

You don't need a nursing degree, a medical background, or even a single day of clinical experience to start a career in cardiac diagnostics.

Every cardiac care team has a physician at the top and a nurse at the bedside, but there's a third figure most patients barely notice who holds

The short answer: Faster than you probably think. The more useful answer: It depends on a few factors worth understanding before you enroll anywhere.

Texas's healthcare sector is one of the largest in the country – and it is actively hiring. With over 600,000 healthcare jobs across the state a

California sits at a peculiar intersection: It has more healthcare jobs than any other state, yet a consistent shortage of qualified billing

Every year, billions of dollars in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding sit underutilized while job seekers pay out-of-pocket

The dental industry has a staffing problem that isn't going away on its own. Practices are posting positions for weeks only to interview candidates

The decision to pursue a medical assistant certification online is less about convenience and more about leverage. You're positioning yourself

Florida's healthcare sector is one of the largest in the country – and one of the busiest. With roughly 15,510 people employed as medical records s

The healthcare industry has a staffing gap that has nothing to do with doctors or nurses. Medical billing and coding specialists are in short

Medical billing and coding sits at a strange intersection: it is one of the most in-demand healthcare careers in the country, yet its training

If you've been eyeing a healthcare career but keep hitting a wall because every job listing seems to want experience you don't have yet, here's

If you've spent any time researching a career as a Patient Care Technician (PCT), you've probably encountered certifications like CPCT, NAHP,

If you've already decided that patient care is the field for you, the last thing you want is to spend two years in a classroom before you can

Passing a knowledge test and functioning in a busy dental clinic are two very different skill sets, and most programs are only preparing candidates

Shopping for an online dental assistant program feels like browsing a used car lot – everything looks shiny until you pop the hood. Some programs s

If you're already working as a dental assistant in California – or you're about to – you probably know the pay gap between entry-level and exp

If you've spent any time researching how to become a dental assistant, you've probably noticed that the certification landscape looks like alphabet

If you've been Googling dental assistant programs for more than ten minutes, you've probably noticed that the online vs in-person debate gets

By the time most people finish comparing programs, someone else has already started one. The dental industry added over 29,000 new dental assistant

Every few years, a new technology wave rolls in and someone declares a profession dead. Medical billing has been on that list more than once.

The path from "I want to work in healthcare" to "I'm clocked in and charting vitals" is short but layered. Medical assistant training involves

The electrocardiogram (EKG) technician field is having a moment – and not just because of an aging population or a staffing shortage. The convergence o

If you've been researching healthcare careers that don't require a four-year degree but still put you at the center of patient care, the certified

Landing one of the better remote medical coding jobs in California takes more than a Google search and a hopeful resume submission. The state

The medical assistant role has long been mischaracterized as a dead-end entry point – somewhere people park themselves before figuring out w

If you've been researching healthcare careers that offer job stability, hands-on patient interaction, and a shorter training runway than most

If you've already decided that a career as an electrocardiogram (EKG) technician is the direction you're heading, this guide gets straight to

Medical assistants are now the hardest clinical role to fill in the United States. In 2024, 43% of practices hired alternative staff – from L

In almost any primary care clinic, specialty practice, or urgent care center, you will find a medical assistant (MA) somewhere between the front

Medical billing and coding is one of those fields where the demand outpaces the headlines. While everyone talks about nursing shortages and physician

Every healthcare practice runs on two things: clinical care and getting paid for it. Yet one of the most persistent points of confusion in health

Most people who get into medical billing and coding do it because the job is stable, the pay is decent, the prospect of working remotely is very

If you're weighing your options in allied healthcare, medical assisting is one of the few fields where you can be fully employed – with patient r

Medical billing and coding sits at the intersection of healthcare and business. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment

If you've been weighing a career in medical billing and coding, the first thing you probably want to know is: what does this pay? The answer

The answer most people want is a number. The answer that serves them is "it depends" – but probably not as long as you think, and not as simple a

Hospitals have a staffing problem that no amount of sign-on bonuses will fully fix. The 2025 NSI National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing

Choosing between a Patient Care Technician (PCT) and a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) is one of those decisions that looks straightforward

If you've been searching for a healthcare career that doesn't require four years of school, endless clinical hours, or a second mortgage to fund