Each year MSA allocates funds to assist members to attend the AST National Conference as delegates. This year’s conference was in New Orleans. Delegates are required to attend all Business Meetings, the Candidate Forum, to meet the candidates and to investigate any proposals that are voted upon. There were six delegates and one alternate chosen to attend; however, one delegate was unable to attend and the alternate became the sixth delegate this year.

All delegates must submit a report in order to be reimbursed. Only Excerpts from the delegate reports will be printed. If you wish to read their full report, you can request that it be sent to you via email. (All excerpts from the reports submitted have been edited by Lynda Custer).

The following is an excerpt from Mary Gauthier who was elected to the Vice President position of MSA at the Spring Workshop and Business meeting. This particular except has been chosen because AST Recommended Standards of Practice affect every Surgical Technologist and First Assistant.

AST Recommended Standards of Practice and Education of the Student
By Dana Grafft, CST and Jeff Bidwell, CST, CFA, CSA

Ms. Dana Grafft and Mr. Jeff Bidwell spoke about the Recommended Standards of Practice for Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting that are currently being developed will affect ST education. They informed the audience that the first version of the Standards will be complete within the next year. They explained that the reasons for developing the standards are to provide guidelines backed by research that is more specific to the role of the surgical technologist. Currently, the gold standard is AORN’s Standards, Recommended Practices, and Guidelines. The criticism is that AORN authors often reference themselves instead of independent research.

Ms. Grafft explained that their goal is that the Standards would be used in the classroom, for legislative efforts, for practitioners in the field, and to assist students in deciding proper protocol when preceptors differ in their opinions.

As these two representatives of the committee that is working on these Standards started to review one topic, it quickly became clear that this is a time consuming and work intensive task. It will be interesting to see the Standards when they are released.



Paula Hayes Secretary of MSA attended the Leadership Forum for MSA as well as serving as a delegate. Paula’s enthusiasm and dedication is always refreshing to observe. The following is an excerpt from Paula’s report.

Delegates Report New Orleans 2007
Paula J Hayes MSA-AST Secretary

I went to New Orleans early for the State Leadership Forum. There I learned some key strategical decisions that need to be implemented by the state when pursuing the legislative process. While interacting with attendees from other states, I realized that all states meet with similar legislative resistance that Michigan has incurred.

I was impressed by the individuals who were running for President, VP, Treasurer, and the Board of Directors. Meeting with the candidates I had a chance to discuss with them the future of AST, their passion for the profession and their involvement with their State Assemblies and AST.
The results of the election were as follow:
President: Sherri Alexander
Vice President: Ron Alston
Treasurer: Georgia Carter
Board of Director: Margaret Rodriguez, Bill Hammer and John Ratliff.

Attending this year allowed me to network with people from around the United States who share my passion for surgical technology. I was able to develop and renew friendships. Thank you for the opportunity to represent Michigan at the National Conference.



This was Carrie Schrepfer’s first time attending Nationals as a delegate. Carrie has been actively involved with MSA since she was a student. Carrie has been actively involved in forwarding student involvement in MSA and was voted unto the MSA board this Spring. The following excerpt really allows us to see the impact that attending Nationals can make upon a member:

Defining our Destiny
New Orleans
Carrie Schrepfer, CST, MSA Board of Directors

My delegate experience can be best described as truly an honor. This was my first time representing our Michigan State Assembly as a delegate, and the first time visiting New Orleans. Throughout the conference, business meetings, voting’s, I had the opportunity to make a difference, meet new people, and talk about past, present and future aspects of our profession. It was an eye opening experience into the many ways in which we are able to become involved and contribute to the profession both on the state and national levels.

Surgical Technologists came from all over the Nation with different experiences, techniques, and ways of operation, but there are things that we all have in common such as our pride for our profession, our passion our dedication, our commitment. There were also certain topics and discussions that truly reflected our purpose within our profession such as Aeger Primo, patient advocacy, certification, staying involved, and the importance of being a Mentor. There are so many people that I met that inspired me to raise the bar as a CST, preceptor, mentor, role model, board member, and MSTSA advisor.

My delegate journey was educational, motivational, and there was also a sense of adventure. I have many fond memories of the educational and social functions. The national conference is an experience that stays with you even after you leave. I have grown as a Certified Surgical Technologist, and as a person. This conference truly impacted my career and professional development.
Thank you everyone for such a wonderful time in New Orleans.



This year Eileen Kortes, who has been an active member of MSA and is the Election Committee Chair, attended National for her first time. Her report is submitted in full.
To: The Board of Directions and the State Assembly
From: Eileen Kortes, Election Committee Chair
Report: National Conference

I would like to thank everyone for allowing me the opportunity of representing you MSA-AST at the National Conference.

This was a great experience for me; I have never been to a National Conference before. I met people that I have only read about, heard of or seen in photos, and it was nice to be able to put a face and personality to these dedicated people.

During the opening night party I was introduced to so many people that are at our National Headquarters and many of the candidates that were running for offices. I also spent time with each candidate that was running for offices during “Meet the Candidates” at the exhibit hall. These opportunities gave me some insight into each candidate’s agenda for leading AST into the future.

The candidates forum which was held Friday evening was every interesting and I was able to see how the candidates presented themselves and their agendas. I especially enjoyed Margaret Rodriguez speech; her speech was an interactive one. She asked the assembly questions that if we had ever felt or been involved in to raise their hands. I do not think anyone’s hand were down. Those questions she asked showed the assembly that she too has been there or that she too has felt the same way we did. She showed us that there were no differences between us and that she felt she would be able represent us well.

After the forum we the delegates and any other members from our state met to discuss the candidates and to decide who would best represent us at a national level. We also discussed the pros and cons of the two amendments that were purposed to the National By-Laws.

I was very interested in seeing how National runs their election, since I am the chair of the Election Committee. I wanted to see how they checked the membership’s credentials. When a participant signs up for the National Conference their certification and membership is checked. At the time of voting the participants need to present their current membership card and then they are checked in to vote. When we do our voting I get the list of participants for the Educational Committee and a print-out of the State’s membership from AST. I then check the list of participants against the AST print-out so that during the check-in process of our workshops we are able to verify if a participant can vote. I was surprised to see that we are not doing anything different then National. The only difference is they check membership cards at the time of voting and we check at the time of registration so that the voting process can run smoothly.

New Orleans was every nice I was amazed to see how nice thing were after Katrina there was still a lot of construction especially on the roads. The weather was hot and humid but that did not stop any of us from getting out and seeing the French Quarter. Another nice thing was that every thing was within walking distance and we did do a lot of walking after the educational sessions

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve the State.

Eileen Kortes



Deborah Sue Mc Donald attended the Leadership Forum. Deb Sue has recently completed training in Parliamentary Procedure. However, everyone knows how Deb Sue continually looks for the opportunity to serve and help. I choose this except because it truly shows what Deb Sue is all about:

Thursday May 24 the Convention began at 8 am. The Opening Session included the introduction of all State Assembly Presidents, including Lynda Custer from Michigan, the announcement of the current AST President, officers and board members, and the singing of the National Anthem by Bruce Lyle, CST. Awards are also given during the session. Michigan had two recipients of the FAST Award- Julia Jackson and Joe Long. This is an award intended for outstanding service to the advancement of the Surgical Technology Profession of Surgical Technologists and Surgical Assistants.

The Keynote speaker was Mike Rayburn. He is “Often recognized as the world’s funniest guitar virtuoso”. Mike Rayburn used his astounding guitar creations and songs in the keynote address to encourage, challenge and inspire attendees. His topic for AST was “Take a Step Beyond.” Examining how challenges can be faced, Mike had everyone laughing, as well as considering creative and innovative methods to meet each new trial that might be encountered! After Mike spoke, I volunteered to work his table so he could autograph the CD’s and books that he was selling.
 

Delegates from MSA Deb Sue Mc Donald CST and Paula Hayes CST, enjoy the closing night party with friend Renee Singer CST from New York