The Surgical Technology program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College was developed in response to a request from an area hospital in January 1989. The development of the program was supported in part by a grant from the State of Michigan, Joint Training and Retraining Investment Fund. The Surgical Technology program at KVCC admitted its first class in the fall semester of 1989. Surgical Technology is believed to be a service vocation, with human as well as technical elements, encompassing the individual, the health care team, the surgical environment, and society. It is characterized by the application of professional standards and surgical principles.
All components interact with an ever-changing environment and society.
Therefore, Surgical Technology must be responsive to changing expectations, changing health care recipients, and changing environments. Learning is a life-long process and is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors. The Surgical Technology student is the central and active participant in the learning process and, therefore, held accountable. Teachers are facilitators in the learning process and serve as role models, information providers, resource and support people, and evaluators of learning. The learning environment is most productive when it is dynamic, providing security, learning challenges, and rewards.