Among three of boards of surgical assistant in USA, The ABSA is a unique and through certification exam that requires proficient manual skills, excellent written skills, and classes in surgical assisting or the equivalent experience, which is foreign doctor needs at least two year surgical experience . A candidate that meets all of these requirements and receives the ABSA certification is therefore ensured to be highly qualified to serve as surgical assistants.  In Virginia, the majority of hospitals and surgical centers hold surgical assistants certified by the ABSA. These assistants are very effective in what they do and ensure that patient, surgeon and hospital are all satisfied.  The certification ensures a quality standard of service that both hiring centers in hospitals and doctors can trust. Invalidation of the ABSA certification will result in mass employment, and decrease the standard service. Invalidation of ABSA certification will result in job loss and the loss of an irreplaceable quality of service that can only come from experience.

 Therefore, please consider the above clearly, and allow the surgical assistants certified by ABSA to continue their valuable work in hospitals and surgical centers across Virginia.

Respectfully,

Xueling Teng SA-C