STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 

 1. Identify test taking skills and strategies.

 2. Demonstrate learning comprehension in the areas of basic sciences, preoperative patient care, preoperative case management, intraoperative case management, postoperative case management, surgical specialties and procedures, ancillary functions, and technological sciences.

 3. Perform a final practice exam

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 

 I. Taking the CST Exam

 a. What is the CST Certification Exam?

 b. Why is certification important?

 c. Who creates the certification exam?

 d. What is the format of the certification exam?

 e. How is the CST exam scored?

 f. Why spend time preparing for the Exam?

 g. How to prepare for the exam?

 II. Basic Sciences

 a. Anatomy and Physiology

 b. Microbiology

 c. Pathophysiology

 d. Medical Terminology

 e. Pharmacology and Anesthesia

 III. Preoperative Patient Care

 a. Biopsychosocial Needs

 b. Preoperative Preparation

 c. Patient Identification and Transportation

 d. Informed Surgical Consent

 e. Patient Transfer to the OR Table and Positioning

 f. Urinary Catheterization

 g. Skin Preparation

 IV. Preoperative Case Management

 a. Surgical Attire

 b. Equipment, Supplies, and Case Selection

 c. Surgical Instruments

 d. Specialty Equipment

 e. Aseptic Technique

 f. Scrubbing, Gowning, and Gloving

 g. Surgical Counts

 h. Draping

 i. Physical Environment of the Operating Room

 

 

 

 

 

 V. Intraoperative Case Management

 a. Homeostasis

 b. Emergency Situations and CPR

 c. Documentation

 d. Care of Specimens

 e. Surgical Incisions

 f. Methods of Hemostasis

 g. Catheters, Drains, and Tubes

 h. Surgical Dressings

 i. Wound Classifications

 j. Wound Healing

 k. Tissue Approximation

 VI. Postoperative Case Management

 VII. Surgical Specialties and Procedures

 a. General Surgery

 b. OB/GYN

 c. Genitourinary

 d. Orthopedic

 e. Otorhinolaryngology

 f. Ophthalmology

 g. Oral and Maxillofacial

 h. Plastic and Reconstruction

 i. Cardiothoracic

 j. Peripheral Vascular

 k. Neurosurgery

 VIII. Ancillary Functions

 a. Legal Concepts and Doctrines

 b. Decontamination and Disinfection

 c. Sterilization and Reprocessing

 d. Sterile Storage and Distribution

 IX. Technological Sciences

 a. Computer Skills

 b. Electricity

 c. Physics

 d. Robotics

 X. Final Practice Exam