A surgical pa can do everything a CFA can do plus admission history and physicals, rounding on pts before and after surgery, discharge summaries, clinic follow ups, take first call to the emergency dept for surgical pts, write prescriptions including narcotics, follow icu pts, run a minor procedures clinic by themselves, work in settings other than surgery, etc
a cfa only assists in the o.r..that is the sum of their function. they can't independently see pts, write prescriptions, etc. they can do nothing without a surgeon right there except set up an instrument tray. a surgical pa after a few yrs can do 80% + of what the surgeon does. pa's who have been working in the same surgical specialty often do a an entire side of a procedure if bilateral proecedures are being done at the same time.
CFA programs run around 9 months or so and surg techs make 35-50k or so.most surg techs get a certificate.
pa programs run 24-27 months or so and surg pa's make 90-150k/yr. most pa's now get a masters degree.
surgical pa's also have the option of completing a postgrad surgical residency(essentially an md surgical internship)see
www.appap.org for examples
MORE INFO ON SURGICAL PA'S FROM THEIR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION:
http://www.aaspa.com/
there is actually another pathway to first assist called rnfa( rn first assist) which is a surgical nurse who does some extra training. they fall somewhere in the hierarchy over a surgical tech and under a pa and surgeon. Some acute care nurse practitioners also work as first assistants and have a role similar to that of a surgical pa.
very very helpful
