To whom it may concern,

I graduated from a Surgical Technology program in 1997. I joined the AST who now works closely with NBSTA. In 2016 I was informed about the change from VA notice of becoming a member of the board of Medicine for my practice. Which I am a member of.  I have traveled the country as a Traveling Surgical Technologist. Coming across many years of experiences in Surgical Technology. I have trained CST to scrub in surgery. I feel the push to get everyone on board is essential. But , not at the cost of experienced staff who have paved the way! AORN stood beside their fellow diploma nurses at a time when there job was losing accreditation. The students like myself who attended a Surgical Technology program graduated proudly with knowledge to pave way for the next generation. We should be grandfathered in with same intent as the nurses who led the community before taking the nclex was the only excepted license to become a nurse. More importantly, the patient deserve skilled competent staff working along side their Surgeons.