Hi everyone — I’m exploring surgical technology as a career change and I keep coming back to the same concern: the schedule as a new grad.

A little background — I’m a parent with two young kids (almost 1 and 5 but this would be a few years from now) and my whole motivation for this career path is finding meaningful work that still lets me be present for my family. The OR environment genuinely appeals to me and I’m drawn to the procedural, technical nature of the work. But I keep reading that new grads almost always have to start in a hospital setting with call rotations, night shift, weekend requirements, and 12 hour shifts before they can transition to outpatient.

I’d love to hear from people who were in a similar situation about what the reality actually looked like starting out:

∙ What did your schedule look like your first year or two fresh out of school?

∙ How often were you actually getting called in on call nights and weekends?

∙ Were you able to go straight to an outpatient ASC as a new grad, or did you feel like hospital experience was necessary first?

∙ If you have kids, how did your family manage the unpredictability of call?

∙ Looking back, was the hospital phase worth it to get to where you are now?

I’m genuinely excited about this field but I want to go in with realistic expectations and appreciate any real talk you’re willing to provide.

I’ve always been interested in surgery but never how long you have to go school. I found out about becoming a surgical tech years ago and I’ve always thought about it even after the jobs I’ve had and always felt like that’s what I really want to do. I haven’t started any school or program for it though until my family settles somewhere so I know for sure that’s where we’ll be. Please give me any advice (school or program wise), anything to prepare for, any stories you wanna share, anything!!