For years, saying ‘I am a surgical tech’ felt natural. It was an accurate description of my work, my skills, and a large part of my daily life. The operating room requires so much focus that the career can easily…
Early in my career, a job offer felt like something to be grateful for, not something to negotiate. If an employer gave me a number, I assumed that was the number. I needed work, I wanted experience, and sometimes I…
Surgical technology education prepared me to enter an operating room. It taught me anatomy, instrumentation, sterile technique, procedures, counts, patient safety, and the discipline required to function as part of a surgical team. Those lessons were necessary. Patients needed me…
For a long time, I thought the answer to financial stress was simply to earn more money. More hours. More call. A higher hourly rate. A better contract. Those things can help, but they do not automatically create wealth. I…
When I first became a surgical technologist, I carried a belief that had followed me from the military and into civilian life: if I worked hard, learned my job, stayed dependable, and gave more than what was required, my pay…
People always look at me sideways when I say you can make $100,000 a year as a surgical tech. Like it’s some kind of myth or something. But I’m here to tell you it is absolutely possible and I’m going…
If you are researching surgical tech salary right now, I want to give you the real numbers. Not the watered-down averages you find on job boards. Not the numbers that make the career sound better than it is. The actual,…
So you want to become a surgical tech. Maybe you’ve been researching it for a while, maybe somebody told you about it, or maybe you just know you want to work in surgery and this feels like the right path.…
If you’ve been in the OR for a minute, you’ve probably heard about surgical first assisting. Maybe you’ve seen a first assistant in the room and wondered what exactly they do differently. Or maybe you’re trying to figure out if…
Meta Description: Is being a surgical tech worth it in 2026? A 20-year veteran surgical tech and first assistant breaks down the real truth — the good, the bad, and how to make it work for you. Target Keywords: is…