Surgical First Assisting Certificate (SFA Online Program)

The total covers the online courses, the Applied Science Lab, clinical support and all materials except one textbook. Outside the total, budget about $125 for Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery (17th edition), about $100 a year for malpractice insurance, $240 to $350 for the certification exam, and your own travel, lodging and food for the week-long lab if you attend in Nashville. Program rates are subject to change, and the catalog lists re-enrollment, remediation processing and payment plan fees of $250, $500 and $500.

Paying for school. Meridian offers federal financial aid to those who qualify through the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IV programs, including Federal Pell Grants and Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans; list federal school code 041650 on the FAFSA. Veterans education benefits (Post-9/11 GI Bill, Chapters 30, 35, 1606 and 31, and VEAP) are accepted, and you can also pay in full by MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover or use another option approved by the Director of Financial Aid. Monthly payments under an approved payment plan are made by bank check card or credit card. Many hospitals have tuition reimbursement plans, and Meridian offers to help students work with their employer. The school’s Net Price Calculator is linked from this page.

Cancellations and refunds. You can cancel at any time before your start date for a full refund of tuition and fees. After that, the tuition refund is 80% within two weeks of the start date, 60% within three weeks, 40% within four weeks, and nothing from the fifth week on. Refunds are issued within 45 days of the withdrawal determination, based on your last date of attendance, and students who receive federal aid are subject to the federal Return of Title IV Funds calculation, which can leave a balance owed to the school.

Graduates work as surgical first assistants, directly assisting the surgeon with exposure, hemostasis, suturing and wound closure across surgical specialties. The program prepares students for the Certified Surgical First Assistant (CSFA) examination offered by the NBSTSA and the Certified Surgical Assistant (CSA) examination, and many students are already employed in surgery while they train. Meridian does not guarantee employment, though it shares job openings it hears of from facilities nationwide.

Meridian’s Graduation and Placement Report for the reporting year July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 shows a graduation rate of 91 percent, a withdrawal rate of 9 percent and a placement rate of 80 percent for the Surgical First Assisting program. It reports an outcomes assessment exam pass rate of 87 percent for July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Meridian Institute of Surgical Assisting began operations in December 1999 and is based at 1507 County Hospital Road in Nashville, Tennessee. Its roughly 12,000-square-foot facility holds administrative offices, classrooms and a laboratory with six fully furnished operating room stations, equipped to run real-time surgical procedures comparable to those in hospital operating rooms. Meridian describes itself as the nation’s largest surgical assisting education program, and every program is taught in English.

Coursework runs in the Canvas learning management system, so you study from your own computer; the catalog lists the operating systems, browsers and internet speed Canvas needs, and Respondus LockDown Browser is used for testing. Direct student support is available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central, email and online issues are monitored in the evenings and at weekends, and Meridian aims to answer every student inquiry within 24 hours. Instructors offer career advisement by appointment on employment opportunities, reimbursement, career pathways and professional development.

Meridian is authorized to enroll students in every state except California, which is not a member of NC-SARA, so California residents cannot enroll. Surgical assistants are not recognized in New York, New Jersey or Washington, which bars graduates from practicing there, and Nebraska, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Kentucky currently require professional licensure to work as a surgical assistant. Students must tell Meridian if they move to another state.