CTC Surgical Tech Students Win Election at National Organization

by Chattahoochee Technical College

Chattahoochee Technical College students Dana Sherer of Marietta and Tommy Larson of Woodstock were elected president and vice president of the Association of Surgical Technology Student Association at the organization’s national convention held in New Orleans. 

Every year students in Chattahoochee Technical College’s surgical technology program attends the convention to introduce students to the organization.

This is not CTC’s first time having one of its students elected; last year Dustin Cain was nominated vice president. However, “this year is significant because for the first time in ASTSA history two students from the same college were elected,” says Surgical Technology Program Director Lorraine Wilderman.

Sherer and Larson begin their one-year term in which they will manage the student division of the organization. Their duties include planning the student day for next year’s convention, which will be held in Denver, Colo., writing articles for the organization’s magazine, and assisting with the website.

When asked what motived her to run for president of the ASTSA, Sherer said she had no intention of seeking an office until she arrived at the convention center in New Orleans. 

“When I saw the magnitude of the event and witnessed the zeal others have for this organization and the profession, I wanted to engage in a bigger part of the process and felt an obligation to serve,” Sherer said. 

During her high school years while attending a Cobb County magnet school, she took part in a program at a Cobb hospital that allowed her to rotate through different areas of medicine for eight weeks. 

It was at that time she found her connection to the medical field. Sherer says she looks forward to gaining a job in the field after graduation while continuing her education to earn a bachelor’s degree, and hopes to join the Georgia State Assembly of Association of Surgical Technologists.

The Surgical Technology Program at Chattahoochee Technical College prepares students to become qualified surgical technologists, a role vital to operating rooms at hospitals. 

The diploma level program is 65 credit hours long, taking students three semesters after prerequisites and general education coursework.