# Surgical Technologists

> Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.

- **SOC code:** 29-2055.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2055-00
- **Also known as:** Certified Surgical Technologist (CST), Operating Room Technician (OR Tech), Surgical Technician, Surgical Technologist (Surgical Tech), Certified Surgical Technician, Operating Room Surgical Technician (OR St), Operating Room Technologist (OR Tech), Surgical Scrub Technician
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.
- Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.
- Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
- Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.
- Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists.
- Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.
- Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.
- Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
- Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs.
- Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.
- Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.
- Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Schedule surgical procedures for patients.
- Transport patients to and from the operating room.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Medicine and Dentistry _(knowledge)_
- Speech Recognition _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Selective Attention _(ability)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Windows _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- MEDITECH software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Windows _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Database software
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- Email software
- Google Drive
- Graphics software
- Nursing documentation software
- Patient scheduling software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 15th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 36th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 14th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 5th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 40th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 4.5% growth (About average); 7k annual openings; 115.6k → 120.8k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $62,830; 113,890 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2055-00_