Certified surgical technologist Eduardo Del Toro Batista feels proud to be working on the surgical team at Norton Hospital, where he confidently uses the skills that he gained in his surgical technology program at the $$Louisville Campus. “I’ve always liked the medical field, and now that I have the opportunity to work as a scrub tech, I can save lives,” he explained.—
As a surgical technologist, or “scrub tech,” Eduardo maintains the sterile field of the operating room and assists surgeons with their instrumentation. His experience in the OR has included a wide variety of surgical procedures, from plastic surgery to vascular surgery. “My favorite surgery right now is spine surgery, because they’re complicated and you’re learning different instrumentation and different technologies every day,” he shared.
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Keeping the OR safe for his patients is a big responsibility and one that Eduardo doesn’t take lightly, but he is secure in his abilities after studying under program director Stephanie Walker, who taught him about sterile technique and surgical instrumentation using her experience from over ten years in the field. “I tell everybody that the program for scrub techs at National is one of the best, because what Stephanie teaches is what you need to learn to prepare you to go into the field,” Eduardo said. “I’m really thankful to her for teaching me all the steps that it takes for me to do what I do now.”
After spending the first few terms of his program working with Stephanie in the simulated OR at ANU, Eduardo began his clinical rotations in area hospitals. The hands-on experience that he received working side-by-side with medical professionals during actual surgeries was invaluable as he prepared to enter his new career. It also gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a member of the OR team. “You’re proving yourself to the people who you work with [and showing them] that you can do the job,” he said.
[img]After graduating and becoming certified as a surgical technologist, Eduardo attended a surgical technology advisory board meeting at ANU where Stephanie introduced him to a representative from Norton who helped him set up a job interview with the hospital, and he was hired by Norton a short time later. “It was my lucky day,” he recalled with a smile.
Eduardo, a native of Cuba, is thankful for the staff and faculty at American National University who helped him attain his new career in the U.S., a career that’s allowed him to make a difference in his patients’ lives, and in his own. “National changed my life and it will change life for others,” he stated.
A- Eduardo Del Toro Batista, a native of Cuba, enjoys the variety of surgeries he participates in as a certified surgical technologist at Norton Hospital.
B- Eduardo feels that he was well prepared for his career as a surgical technologist after working in the simulated OR and clinical rotations in area hospitals during his program at ANU.
