NBSTSA announces the recipients of the 2026 NBSTSA Student Academic Merit Awards.
The CST® and CSFA® credentials do not stand on NBSTSA®’s authority alone. It was built with the American College of Surgeons, it is endorsed by the professional organizations representing nearly every member of the surgical team, and it is actively championed by practicing surgeons who understand what preparation looks like from the other side of the sterile field.
NBSTSA® was established as a collaborative effort between the Association of Surgical Technologists and the American College of Surgeons: the organization whose Fellows perform the surgical procedures that CST® and CSFA® professionals support every day. That founding relationship is not a historical footnote. The ACS remains actively involved in NBSTSA governance.
In its Revised Statement on Surgical Technology Training and Certification, approved by the ACS Board of Regents in October 2022, the ACS states its position plainly:
“The ACS strongly supports adequate education and training of all surgical technologists, the accreditation of all surgical technology educational programs, and the examination for certification of all graduates of accredited surgical technology educational programs as well as maintenance of ongoing professional certification.”
American College of Surgeons, Revised Statement on Surgical Technology Training and Certification, October 2022
Accredited program. Verified clinical training. Certified graduate. Ongoing certification. That is the CST® pathway, and it is the pathway the American College of Surgeons has formally endorsed as the correct standard for the profession.
Krista Haines, DO, is a trauma and acute care surgeon at Duke University Hospital, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the NBSTSA® Board of Directors. Her testimony before the Ohio House Health Committee captures what the credential means from the surgeon’s perspective:
“Before I make my first incision, I have already placed my trust in every person standing beside me. The surgical technologist who set up that sterile field touched every instrument before I did. They organized the table in a way that tells me, without a word exchanged, that they know what comes next: what I will ask for before I ask for it, in what order, with what urgency. When I extend my hand, I need the right instrument there. Not eventually. Immediately.”
Krista Haines, DO, MABMH | Assistant Professor of Surgery, Duke University Hospital | Member, NBSTSA® Board of Directors | Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Critical competencies for surgical technology cannot be accomplished with an abbreviated education or fully online training. As Dr. Haines has stated: “The American College of Surgeons, the organization that co-founded NBSTSA, has stated its support for accredited education, verified clinical training, and ongoing certification for every surgical technologist. That is not a credentialing preference. It describes what a safe operating room requires.”
The CST® is endorsed by the organizations representing every professional who works alongside a surgical technologist in the operating room:
American College of Surgeons
Association of Surgical Technologists
Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants
When the anesthesiologist, the circulating nurse, the surgeon, and the surgical assistant all look to the same standard, that standard is not one organization’s preference. It is what the operating room expects.