As a candidate for the office of Secretary for the Association of Surgical Assistants, I am a CSFA with 29 years of periop¬erative experience. I have a lifelong commitment to the sur¬gical assisting profession and feel very passionate about our contribution to safe patient care. Having practiced full time as a CSFA for over 20 years, I am now engaging our profes¬sion from an educator’s standpoint full time and work PRN for a busy surgical practice in Evansville, Indiana.

I have previously served our membership as a Board of Director and Education Committee member. I enjoyed working with fellow Board members to advance legisla¬tive efforts, increase membership, and develop a collabora¬tive relationship with NSAA in an effort to serve all surgical assisting credentials.

I would like to continue my service to our profession and members by serving as secretary. I feel my experience and leadership skills will be an asset to the Board and our mem¬bers. I kindly ask for your support.
Thank you.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   I believe in times of uncertainty professionals tend to look to their professional organizations for much needed guidance and direction. ASA provides a great platform for networking opportunities for assistants across the nation and this is especially important in a pandemic that has affected every aspect of everyone’s lives. Members need to be able to seek answers and ask questions in a platform that offers education and professional guidance.

   Given that many practitioners have seen a reduction in their earning potential during the pandemic, I believe it would be reasonable to look at allowing a discounted rate for those greatly affected. We are a member-driven organization. Our members are our greatest asset. Being able to keep everyone connected, especially during a pandemic, is a priority.

   There is an adage, “There is strength in numbers”. This is especially true in a member-driven organization like ASA. We must continue to grow our membership to achieve recognition on the local, state, and federal levels. We must continue to push legislative efforts to ensure that anyone practicing in the assistant role is properly educated, trained, and certified.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   As a CSFA that practices in a state without current legislation, I believe we need to make legislation a priority. Surgical Technologists, and in some states, medical assistants, etc., continue to fill the surgical assistant role. This is in direct conflict with safe patient care and must be addressed. I worked closely with our lobbyists when I was in Florida and made several visits to the capitol to meet representatives and senators and try to educate them on the importance of having a properly trained and educated certified surgical first assistant at the bedside during surgery. What I realized is, most of them have never heard of us and don’t know what we do. This goes back to my previous answer about the importance of gaining recognition for our profession.

   Continuing education is important and I believe ASA should continue to offer quality workshop opportunities that is geared toward the advance practice of surgical assisting including hands-on lab experiences.

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   My hope, like many of you, is that we will eventually be able to attend workshops, etc. again in the near future. Given the current pandemic, we are uncertain of what our futures will look like in this regard. In the meantime, I believe it is important for ASA to keep reaching out to its members via social media, etc. to offer networking opportunities and answer member questions regarding standards, billing, etc.

   As I mentioned before, I think it would not be unreasonable to consider offering a discounted rate to members whose income has been greatly affected by COVID-19. Our members are our greatest asset and being able to help them stay active and engage in our profession and organization is important. Obviously, this would be a short-term solution as we must generate revenue to pay for legislation, etc. and to remain viable as an organization. Growth is important and we must continue to look at ways to increase our membership numbers. We currently offer discounted rates for student memberships. We must find a way to market ourselves to the student population so they can see the value in remaining a member once they have graduated.

I would like to run for the Board of Directors to help sup¬port the overall mission of the organization and the sur¬gical assistant profession. I have been in the surgical pro¬fession since 1993 which started in the Army as a combat medic.

Through the many years in the profession I have been involved with several nation¬al boards and in my state of Texas trying to help guide and educate fellow surgical assis¬tants and professionals as well as stay very involved by giving lectures at national meetings and in Facebook discussions that pertain to our profession.

I currently own and operate a trauma distributorship, dura¬ble medical equipment company, medical billing company and work as a Licensed Surgical Assistant. I feel I have a lot of information and experience to help ASA and the member¬ship as a Director. If elected my goal will be to continue help-ing the profession through information sharing, committee appointments, legislative efforts, and lectures plus being the voice of the membership back to the Board of ASA.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   Under current state laws the businesses are being forced to change the way it conducts daily operation even though most do not want to. I feel in current situation ASA should try to find Zoom type meetings / lectures to provide CME options. This can be done in 1 hour classes very easily since many people have been doing them since March, it should be a fairly easy transition. Knowing that ASA has lost so much money from the canceled meetings, one could expect a small fee to be given access to the lectures.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   Being an educational organization you would think the first choice would be education but in current times it may be smarter to work on legislation since many states have been completed so the “template” for adding more states should be available. I am not saying ASA should pay for efforts in each state but provide the guidance so that grass roots efforts can succeed could prove invaluable to the profession and the organization.

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   This is the same as the above; provide educational opportunities through webinar type lectures and guidance for grass roots efforts of legislation in key states. The more the membership sees is being done, the more growth in the organization will be realized.

I hope to bring to the Board the enthusiasm and fortitude that is needed to accomplish goals that are important to the membership.

The advancement of the surgical assis¬tant is very important to me. Perhaps state-level grassroots efforts are where some of the focus needs to be? State recog¬nition and marketing can be so helpful with licensing, reg¬istration or any other regu-latory body. With my posi¬tion on the ASA Board, I will have the opportunities to be at a national level, as well as, at the state level with the Texas Surgical Assistant Association.. This can only help all surgical assistants. I have experience working and communicating with lobby¬ists in the State of Texas during the 2018-2019 legislative ses¬sions.

. I worked closely on the licensing bill for surgical assis¬tants, and although we were not successful with the chang¬es that had been proposed, I am not deterred.

There is always 2021. I look forward to the opportunity to help the entire membership of ASA and the assistants of the Great State of Texas. I thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to reach out to me if I can help you in any way.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   I honestly don’t know if I believe that the pandemic has changed the way that ASA supports the members. Quite frankly, the only thing that is missing is the opportunity to have in person conferences/meetings. I feel that the same amount of interaction has been taking place via email. My vision for ASA going forward would be to be able to offer more choices online for continuing education credits.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   The use of ASA resources is a good question. II think that funds should be used towards legislation. If surgical assistants are going to have any credibility in the medical field, we have to get each state to recognize the assistant. This will only be accomplished at the local State level. Every State should have legislation that recognizes the surgical assistant as a valued member of the OR Team.

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   The ASA needs to take advantage of all of the board members and utilize the unique skills and vast knowledge that each board member can offer. Continuing education that can be offered online and perhaps Zoom meetings regularly scheduled.

I thank you all for allowing me to serve on my first BOD term. I am re-running in the hopes to continue this and deliver more and more for our members. I have helped accomplish several things during my very first term, including: writing the surgical assistant job description that you all use to pro¬vide to employers.

I also have been the face on Facebook that you see during meetings, and I also run a lot of the social media behind the scenes with adding photos, and upload¬ing images during our meetings. I have also been networking and researching ways to provide more CE credits to mem¬bers along with the rest of the Education Committee, as well as helping to further promote licensure in various states, including our recent success in Virginia!

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   First and foremost, I would like to thank each and every one of you for all that you have done during this pandemic. Your involvement in your respective roles is, and has always been essential! As a Board Member for ASA, I am happy to say that our extension offered to our members, and temporarily reduced rate for membership was necessary to show our alignment with you and your struggle during this time. Each year, ASA tries to do our best to grow and represent our members as best we can. This pandemic has certainly changed things for the near future (at least), and with that we will do what we can to continue to show our members how we appreciate you, support you, and when you grow, so do we! Your growth is our growth. I would love to see ASA continue to align with NSAA and create a stronger force working as a cohesive unit together. The more we unite, the better chance we have to succeed in our endeavours.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   As our numbers of members grow, so do our resources. The ASA cannot exist without its members! It is our top priority to help grow and further the foundation of the Surgical Assistant, and help fight with you, and for you on the front lines. I do believe we can and will continue to allocate funds for legislation, lobbying, and fighting for more licensure in each state. As for education, I would love for us to have our own version of CE credits to be earned, and give Surgical Assistants plenty of opportunities to get their necessary credits toward keeping their certifications/licensures active. The main ‘end goal’ so to speak is to have licensure in the majority of states and have active and practicing surgical assistants. Eventually, we must also back this up with our education requirements, degree status, and will have to have schools who offer such requirements. It is a huge network of things happening, but I assure you, we want your success!

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   As a practicing Surgical Assistant near an area in a ‘hot zone’, the face to face interaction that we need is being limited by the current situation. I believe we can temporarily offer a zoom or online platform where we can access videos, hear keynote speakers (if willing) and still host a sort of online version of our bi-annual meetings. We can also continue to utilize our facebook accounts, and gather there for informative meetings together. While this may not be ideal for many of us, it is a strong alternative. I do hope this will end soon, and that we all stay safe during this time.

I am driven in my passion for this profession and the future of surgical assisting. I strongly support the organization and feel the need to serve is the best way to continue to grow our profession. I wish to be part of the future in a positive way helping ASA grow and Succeed for our members.

I have been a member of ASA since the mid 1990's and have attended most of the conferences that were available. I feel participating in the Association has helped me stay up to date with the new innovations and latest legislation we are facing as a profession. As a group we are stronger than we are as individuals and being part of the solution to issues we face is better than waiting for someone else to do it. Supporting our Association has always been a priority for me in my nearly 30 year career.

While I was a surgical technologist, I also participated in the AST conferences as a member on the local level and as a Delegate at the national conferences. I still participate in our local Chapter, Colorado Wyoming State Assembly as a voting member. I have served on the local Board of Directors for a term.

I have been a Speaker/Presenter at conferences at both the local State Assembly conference and at the ASA fall conference in 2019.

I have been on the Education Committee for the ASA the several years helping review and write Position Statements, Core Curriculum, Job Description and most recently chapters for the surgical assistant textbook. I have enjoyed my time being part of this committee and have felt strongly about the work we are doing to further our professional organization.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   I believe this current situation is difficult for everyone. We all have to adapt to the changes not only at our jobs but with the Association as well. I feel we need to think about supporting the membership with more opportunities online for education as well as information regarding legislation.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   I have always felt Education is very important in our profession, staying on top of new procedures and techniques as well as what is happening in the Surgical Assistant world is a priority. Offering opportunities for our members to access online education should be a priority. Legislation is important to keep the profession growing in the right direction If I had to choose I would say 60% education, 40 % legislation

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   With the Pandemic cancelling most of the conference in person I feel we should find a way to build our online forum to help our members stay connected. Many of our members attend conferences to network and learn from others. Working toward a platform online where we can connect with others to continue that network of community should be a goal I would like to work toward.

My name is Shannon Filger Sheehan, and it would be an honor to serve on the Board of the ASA.

I’ve worked in the OR since 1991, transitioning into the role of CSFA in 2016. My many years of experience have given me a vast understanding of the core skills needed in our industry, as well as the opportunity to witness and be a part of the growth and change of our profession.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   1. I don’t really feel the way the ASA supports membership should change in response to the pandemic. A large amount of what we do and need is easy to access online, and that won’t change. The main thing I feel the pandemic has affected is our annual meetings. There are platforms that can allow for online webinars, that would allow us to listen to the speakers, and even ask questions at the end of their presentations. It would take a bit of work to transition to that, but it’s an option. I believe we need the live, in person meetings when we are allowed to travel/congregate. The networking and social interaction those meetings give is irreplaceable.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   1. Prioritizing the resources of the ASA is probably different for each of us. Some hold education as priority, and others feel legislation is most important. There’s no right or wrong response, in my mind. I feel education is where the focus should be. It’s easy to earn our CEU’s online via AST, and other platforms, but our annual meetings are what I look forward to the most. The networking, learning and social aspects of the meetings is very important, to me. The in person conversations and interactions those meetings provide is irreplaceable. I look forward to the opportunity to help with this in any way I can.

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   

   1. I think it’s important the ASA maintains a presence during this time of change. Keeping members up to date with relevant information, providing resources, and offering feedback. To be a sounding board, of sorts. There is so much misinformation, fear, and anger... it’s important to continue to foster growth, education and development. I believe continuing with our online resources is important, but also planning for when we will be able to have an in person meeting again. I think utilizing online options for group discussions and input, such as Facebook and/or zoom type discussions would be good. Maybe some sort of scheduled online ‘meeting’ to check in with members?

I am presently seeking your vote to serve as the Director, on the Board of the Association of Surgical Assistants. A mem¬ber’s vote cannot be taken for granted, however it is a mean¬ingful sign of your confidence that the right persons will rep¬resent your collective professional interest.

I would like to just take a moment and share with you my journey and pathway to what I consider to be a reward-ing profession. It has been many years ago, when I joined the US Navy and became a Navy Hospital Corpsman. This was when I first went into the operating room and later complet¬ed the Navy’s surgical technologist program at the Naval School of Health Science. The experience in the Navy was priceless. I was allowed to function in the role of a surgi¬cal technologist and first assistant. This experience provid¬ed me with a seamless transition into the civilian healthcare industry.

I continued to work in the field of surgical technology, while gaining work experience at several major medical cen¬ters, community hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and medical device companies. It became obvious to me that this field could open many doors of opportunity, with the right training, education and professional networking. It was during this time that I completed my BS degree at Temple University.

There have been so many mentors and peers along the way, that have been instrumental to me becoming a surgical assistant. I have to say that most of my professional benefi¬cial networking has been because of maintaining consistent membership with the AST and now the ASA. Membership with one’s professional representation makes a big differ¬ence. The value that is giving to the members, will come in different forms.

Surgical assistants, care about the following:

• Surgical skill enhancements
• Professional clinical ladder
• Education, training and legislation
• Licensure and credentialing
• Private independent practice
• Hospital based and clinical practice guidelines
• Insurance reimbursement
• Networking and professional issues

I completed my surgical assistant education at Meridian Institute of Surgical Assisting. There are several other path¬ways and schools for those that are practicing in this field. I want to have your confidence with supporting all members towards the future of our profession with those issues that are important to us. We need a strong core of membership activity to provide a real platform for the next generation of surgical assistants.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   
   • Yes, because of the mounting uncertainty of Covid, many businesses and organizations had to adapt and change the way things were being done. The successful businesses & organizations were able to survive for now, based on implementing a change management model.
   • The ASA really needs to be proactive with reassuring the membership body, that they are valued and give clear examples.
   • ASA, has to do a better job with messaging a framework throughout the organization with being more diverse on sharing and receiving information. Use livestreaming, video conferencing, collaboration software such as Teams, Zoom and many others..
   • The ASA has an upcoming business and education conference in about 2 months. In 2 months in a state that is experiencing record increases of Covid cases. There should be a plan for membership engagement, to help prepare members for the possibility for a ASA Virtual Conference.
   • I get it, there is nothing better than in person networking, however not to have a contingency plan is not supporting the needs of our members.
   • I see a vision with the ASA of having a culture that explains the “why” and base on membership surveys and best practices we get to the “how” it will get done.
2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   The number one way to prioritize the use of resources is to first prioritize what provides the best value for members & the organization. What best serves the membership’s verses what provides strong sustainability to the organization. We need to do a check and balance and see how they both align.

   I can only give my best opinion, this really needs to be measured/surveyed.

   • I would say that educational, workshops/surgical focus skill enhancement provides an unmatched level of enthusiasm, which good for both the members and ASA and will help with involvement /retention.
   • Legislation/ Licenser: Great for the profession, providing a foundation that the present members can leave a stronger professional legacy for future members/ Surgical Assistants.
   • Business /Ethics and contract negotiation: This can be a multi-module track approach for those that desire to be independent SAs, or become more business minded when taking employment opportunities.
   • Marketing: Its 2020 and there are to many places and people that still don’t know about the Surgical Assistant. This area can also get on the front line of media attacks and out reach with other professional organizations.
3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   
   • The pandemic and some ways may be a good thing for our profession. During this time many of the Surgical physician Assistants were ask to go back to the floors and really work within their own SOP. We really to professionally remind the industry that healthcare organizations are not getting the true value of individuals, when they are not working in their SOP. Like wise at the same time, show the value of the SA when fully utilize with out dual role.
   • There were also times that the SA was ask to go to the Covid units and provide training to staff as it related to patient positioning/ care and proper use of PPE.
   • We need to see how and what it takes to strengthen our role in healthcare in normal times and not just moments of crisis.
   • So, it seems to always come back to training/education and looking forward. Not being so stuck on the past where you don’t become a student of change.
   • If a profession or organization really wants to stay current, we have to stay ahead of new technologies, practices and have a broader appeal.

My name is Ivan Zamora, I am 38. I was born in Mexico and have lived in the Houston metropolitan area for the last 13 years. I am a General Doctor in Mexico and I prac¬tice as a Licensed Surgical Assistant where I currently live. I specialize in Brain and Spine, Robotics, Plastics, Orthopedics and a few others. For the last seven years, I have been practicing as an independent Licensed Surgical Assistant and I am the owner of Avant First Assistants. As an independent LSA, I was able to successfully manage pro¬viding my services to over 10 surgeons on a regular basis. Currently we provide our services to over 40 surgeons and we are in six hospitals and surgery centers and are suc-cessfully growing. I have been a member of ASA since its inception in 2010. I have seen it grow and advance and I am delighted to see the potential it has for the future of our pro¬fession. Because I have been attending most of the meetings I have met and gotten to know most of its Board members. This has allowed me to understand the needs and expecta¬tions of the members of the Board. I have diligently worked to acquire and develop the skills and experience I current¬ly have not only as a LSA but at managing a successful busi¬ness. The fact that I have been able to establish a business, that has continually been advancing and growing allows me to confidently bring to the table a wide range of resourc¬es that will assist in the development of our profession. For these reasons, I would appreciate your support to sit at the Board of ASA and proudly represent the voice of you all, our members.

1. This pandemic has changed the way a lot of businesses conduct business. Do you feel ASA should change how they support the membership? why or why not? If yes, what is your vision for ASA moving forward?"
   

   Yes, ASA should change our support by offering webinars in lieu of waitng for COVID-19 to subside. Why, because there is s%ll great need for many of us to continue our education and the need for our CME’s in order to renew our licenses.

2. How would you prioritize the use of ASA resources – education, legislation, etc?
   

   We need to assign a certain percentage to legisla%on, education and development.

   The resources for Legislation should be destined to the states that have a higher possibility to get recogni%on and that are more viable.

   Resources for education could be assigned to promote or transiton to webinars or online modules.

3. Given the pandemic, how do you see ASA proceeding to foster growth, education and development during this challenging time?
   
   • An increase in social media presence
   • Certain ASA Members should aXend other conferences such as AST to invite Surgical Technologists to our conferences and not only become Surgical Assistants, and form part of ASA and give them the opportunity to see the support we can give them.
   • Where ever the city that will be hosting the Meeting should reach out to local SA and hospitals to invite other local SA’s that are not members yet, at a discounted price to stimulate their interest and have a higher chance to increase the number of members.

   I would also suggest that in future conferences, they should be recorded and Speakers should provide a copy of their topics to not only share with the aXendees but ASA can also charge a minor fee to other Surgical Assistants that were not able to aXend the conference and they would also be able to earn a certain level of CME’s.