Surgical Technology Students Already Employed
Edgecombe Community College Surgical Technology students are already working in the field. From left are RayAnn Spruill, Erin Deckard, Destiny Horton, and Crystal Gray. These students have completed the requirements for a diploma and lack only two online courses to complete the associate degree. When students complete the requirements for a diploma, they are qualified to work as surgical technologists.
All of the students in Edgecombe Community College’s Surgical Technology program have jobs and are working in healthcare facilities.
Four students are in the current cohort that is nearing completion: Erin Deckard, Crystal Gray, Destiny Horton, and RayAnn Spruill.
Surgical Technology is a five-semester associate degree program at ECC. When students complete the requirements for a diploma, they are qualified to begin working in the field.
These students completed the requirements for a diploma in August. As a nod to one of their classmates, they opted to hold a pinning ceremony in August instead of December after they complete the requirements for an associate degree.
One of the students, Crystal Gray, was awarded a highly competitive internship at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota over the summer. The Mayo Clinic extended a job offer to Gray before her internship ended, and she accepted. She began a full-time position there in late August.
According to Suzi Shippen-Wagner, program director of Surgical Technology at ECC, the students have completed the required clinical hours and cases. Only two courses remain to complete the associate degree requirements, and both are online.
“All of these students are working as surgical technologists while they complete these two courses,” Shippen-Wagner says.
“The students wanted Crystal to participate in the pinning, so they decided to hold it early. Crystal flew home for the pinning then packed and moved to Minnesota.”
In addition to Gray joining the Mayo Clinic, another student has an interview pending at a major medical center in Nashville, Tennessee. “We are so proud of all of our students and thrilled by their success,” Shippen-Wagner adds.
To learn more about Surgical Technology at ECC, please contact Shippen-Wagner at shippens@edgecombe.edu or (252) 618-6738.