Microbiology for Surgical Technologists

About Margaret Rodriguez

Margaret Rodriguez is a certified surgical technologist and certified surgical first assistant as well as a professor and program director in the Surgical Technology Department at El Paso Community College in El Paso Texas. A graduate of the El Paso Community College Surgical Technology program she earned her B.S. in occupational career training and development from Texas A&M University and her master of education (M.Ed.) in higher education leadership from The University of Texas-El Paso. Following two decades of experience in the OR Professor Rodriquez has also taught certification preparation courses for sterile processing techs at several hospitals in the El Paso area and serves as an educational consultant faculty presenter for Ethicon part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies. Ms. Rodriguez is a fellow and former president of the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST). She has served on the Certified Surgical First Assistant (CSFA) Exam Review Committee of the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA) and serves on the NBSTSA board of directors. Additionally she was a former site visitor for the Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (ARC-STSA). For several years she served on the Texas State Assembly of AST board of directors as AST liaison to the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and on the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety (CSPS). A prolific writer Ms. Rodriguezs work appears in the AST Exam Review Study Guide AST Surgical Technology for the Surgical Technologist Alexanders Surgical Procedures Surgical Instrumentation and Surgical Assisting. She has also written for publications including Outpatient Surgery magazine and AST's The Surgical Technologist.