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so you might be wondering what it's like
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to go to school for surgical technology
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well stay tuned I'll give you all the
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Gory details
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[Music]
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the best way to become a surgical
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technologist is to attend an accredited
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surgical technology program because this
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will give you the most options and
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opportunities when you graduate an
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accredited program is one where a
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National Organization regularly checks
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to make sure that you are getting the
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best education possible and it certifies
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that the program is doing a good job you
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can find a program near You by visiting
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the K Hep or abhes websites and
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searching for surgical technology
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programs
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so what's it like completing one of
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these surgical technology programs at an
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accredited school as of January 2022 all
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surgical technology programs have to be
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are mandated to be associate degree
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programs this means the program will run
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on average between 15 and 24 months
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in your foundational classes you'll
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learn Anatomy the names and locations of
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parts of the body physiology how these
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parts actually work medical terminology
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the fancy names for all of these parts
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and microbiology about the germs that
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can infect these parts
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your surgical technology classes will be
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divided three ways you will have
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lectures labs and clinicals the first
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half of your surgical tech lectures
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covers important background information
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such as information about patients laws
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about the or rooms equipment and
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hospitals and basic surgical Concepts
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like wound closure and healing and how a
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typical case proceeds the second half of
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your lectures get into details of common
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surgical procedures lectures will
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require that you both understand and
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apply concepts for example how do the
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properties of laser light help achieve
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surgical goals and memorize information
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what is dantroline used for
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so here's a study hint when you get to
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that part of your lectures where you're
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learning about the procedures themselves
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well I've created a bunch of videos on
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this channel that both review anatomy
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and physiology and preview the
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procedures themselves
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I guess I didn't realize how
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how about what can only be used on the
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liver the instrumentation and so it's a
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lot more pieces to the puzzle that you
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don't realize are there
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then in many of these programs there are
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two different types of labs one of which
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is the instrumentation lab and I hope
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your memorization skills are good
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because you're going to have to learn to
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identify a lot of different surgical
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instruments and what do I mean by a lot
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well this is just chapter one
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the second type of lab is a skills lab
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it's a practice operating room
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this is where you'll learn how to
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maintain a sterile field you'll learn
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key skills like flipping opening gowning
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and gloving and how to move and just
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grab those
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lab is all about movement the work of a
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surgical technologist is a dance and
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this is where you'll learn the
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choreography the lab was a lot of fun to
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me personally learning all the new
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techniques
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I had never flipped gloves before or
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anything else for that matter it wasn't
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just like book work it was a hands-on
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experience for lab to be able to
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practice like how to open your gown and
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gloves how to set up a table that's not
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something that you can just read from a
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book and know how to do the Hands-On
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stuff is how you get it because talking
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about it
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no sir you have to actually do it and do
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it like literally do it a hundred times
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before it just is with you it's like
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Muscle Man
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then once your instructor feels like
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your skills are good enough that you
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won't contaminate anything you'll get to
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go to a real hospital and not just see
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but actually participate in real
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surgeries did you guys know this is my
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is my surgery reductor
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now for me my first day of clinicals
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that first day that I got to help with a
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real surgery that was one of the most
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memorable days of my life
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for most new texts this is such a rush
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such a high that you can't stop thinking
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about it and you want to do whatever you
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can to get back in there and you will
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because you're required to be actively
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involved in over 100 real surgeries
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before you graduate
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and this is a minimum in fact most
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surgical programs across the country the
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students get way more than uh than this
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particular requirement
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everyone has strengths and weaknesses
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and because surgical technology uses so
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many different types of learning and
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skills strength in one area can help
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balance weakness in another
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now in my case I was really good at
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applying Concepts I was okay at moving
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around the lab and I was lousy at
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memorizing things but other students in
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my class were great at memorizing things
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While others were Naturals at moving
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around the lab
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as long as you have some skill in each
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your strengths should be able to balance
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out your weaknesses
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all three areas are important so here's
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a word of warning if you find that you
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really struggle in more than one of
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these three areas or if you're simply
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unable to do any one of these three then
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you'll probably find it very difficult
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to complete this program
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for example I would estimate and this is
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a very rough estimate that's different
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for different schools that about half
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the students who start a surgical tech
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associate's degree program will not
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complete it on the first day of class
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look around the room about half of the
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people sitting there will not complete
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the program
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to find out the numbers for your school
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look at your school's website compare
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how many students are accepted into the
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program versus how many graduate one
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reason why many students drop out is
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because they're simply unable to move
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properly in the lab you will be tested
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on your ability to set up a sterile
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field without contaminating it if after
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a semester or two of practice you're
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unable to do this you won't be allowed
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to continue in the program
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because we have to make sure that you
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know exactly what you're doing before we
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let you go practice on somebody's
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grandmother another big stumbling block
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is anatomy and physiology often students
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do rather well in their surgical
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technology classes but struggle to pass
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ANP they aren't permitted to continue in
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the program until they pass often with a
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C or better so I recommend taking your
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anatomy and physiology classes before
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you actually start the surgical
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technology program
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and for many students life just gets in
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the way maybe it's financial problems or
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family issues pregnancy or any number of
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external events can force a student to
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leave the program let's face it right
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life is coming at you from all different
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angles you're you know you've got kids
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or family members you have bills bills
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are a big deal right we have to pay for
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them and uh and so I think life can get
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in the way
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most students who do drop out do so
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during the first two semesters of the
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program once you make it to the third
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semester your chances of success are
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high I can pretty much guarantee that
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the program will be harder and more time
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consuming than you probably think it
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will be successful students need to be
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prepared to put all social activities on
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the back burner for the next year if a
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student work is working and attending
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the program there's not much time for
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extra activities
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um most of the students that I have work
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and attend the program and have
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successfully completed the program so
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it's just a matter of what's important
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and this has to be the most important
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for the next year
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depending on what your program is you
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could be in class Monday through Friday
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or sometimes you're in class part of the
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week you're in lab part of the week and
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then there's definitely no matter what
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program you're in an at-home component
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it takes a lot of studying but most
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students are able to step up and meet
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the challenge if you have kids this can
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be even harder not impossible because
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many have done it but it will be
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challenging
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you know studying and getting the work
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done is like you're done with school so
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you got to go the kids up and then you
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got to bring them home and you know you
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have to cook dinner and wash them and
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make sure everything's ready for the
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next day and then by the time they go to
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bed you think oh I want to go to bed but
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you have to do your work and studying
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and one instructor I know tells her
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students with children to make sure that
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they have a plan for who will watch
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their kids while they're in school and
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then have a backup to that plan and then
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have a backup to that backup because
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you'll probably need all of that but
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even if you end up not completing the
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program for whatever reason it will not
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have been a total waste you will still
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have learned quite a lot about hospitals
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about the or about the importance of
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sterility and about quite a few surgical
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instruments and with this knowledge
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there are two jobs in particular that
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you might be a good candidate for one is
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a vet tech yes animals need surgery as
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well and vets need people who love
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animals to help them during these
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surgeries
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another job you would be a good
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candidate for is in the Sterile
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Processing Department of your local
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hospital in Central Sterile surgical
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instruments are cleaned repaired
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organized wrapped sterilized and stored
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so that they can be used again many
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surgical techs worked in Central Sterile
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at some point and many still do they
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find the job fits their lifestyle and
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personalities better
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[Music]
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people who easily adapt are ready for
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something new can go with the flow and
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can act calmly when things go awry often
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do well as surgical technology
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and people who like predictability order
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repetition and in general knowing
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exactly what to expect they tend to
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really excel in Sterile Processing in
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fact a really good job to have while you
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complete your surgical technology
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program would be in the Sterile
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Processing department at your local
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hospital there you will get a good head
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start on knowing the hospital and the
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people who work there and an especially
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good head start on learning the names of
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all the instruments that's something
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that would have helped me while I was in
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school
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so what kind of people make good
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Surgical technologists
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we want students or need students who
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are self-motivated self-driven
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um also able to retain information have
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thick skin have a strong sense of
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Integrity Integrity is huge with us we
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can spend extra time needed to teach the
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Hands-On skills but we can't teach
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Integrity or positive attitude the most
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important thing as a student is for you
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to be dedicated
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and to be determined I have had students
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that just graduated high school that
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have never had a job outside of maybe
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um you know a fast food restaurant I've
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had students who were in their 50s and
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60s and this was the second or third
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career
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I've had students who who already have
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bachelor's degrees and I've had students
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that have never taken College in their
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life
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um single moms single dads you know I've
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had students who have had no medical
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experience to students who who have had
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20 years of medical experience it really
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doesn't matter as far as the medical
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experience goes what matters is that
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that integrity and that positive
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attitude and work ethic you know you're
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going to get out of this program what
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you put in it
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once you decide you want to become a
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surgical technologist and you apply to a
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school it's usually several months
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before you can actually start your
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classes but you want to get started now
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what should you do well here are my
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recommendations the best way to get
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ahead is to take your anatomy and
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physiology and medical terminology
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classes ahead of time most colleges will
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let you start on them now while you wait
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to start your surgical technology
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program itself and if your program
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doesn't require medical terminology take
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it anyway
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spend this time focusing on anatomy and
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physiology and medical terminology
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surprisingly it's your ANP and Med term
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that will help you answer nearly half
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the questions on the big national board
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exam these classes are really that
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important don't worry about the actual
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surgical technology stuff yet because
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every teacher does things a little bit
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differently and ironic that I'm saying
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this don't watch any skills videos such
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as flipping gloves draping the Mayo
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stand Etc I've seen students struggle
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because they learned it one way from
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some random video but their teacher
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wants them to do it a different way but
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if you're really dying to learn
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something surgical technology related
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you can start by learning to identify
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your basic instruments don't worry about
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any of the specialty instruments at this
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point
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so now the big question does it cost a
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lot to go to school for surgical
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technology
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well that really depends on how you
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define a lot where you live and how much
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help you might be able to get
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first let's look at the base price and
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just like when buying a car the price
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you actually end up paying may be very
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different from the base price
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saved a lot of money so I pay for the
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whole program out of my own pocket
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if you're paying completely out of
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pocket getting an associate's degree in
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surgical technology generally costs
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somewhere between 8 000 on the low end
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and 20 000 on the high end these are the
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total costs of the program not the per
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year costs and these base costs will
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vary quite a bit from state to state and
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even from school to school is that a lot
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of money yes but compared to the cost of
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the average bachelor's degree at a
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four-year College which can cost several
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times this amount technical school is
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really a pretty good deal the program
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itself that wasn't very expensive the
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only thing that really came out of
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pocket was my books especially if like
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you have like a scholarship or anything
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like that it covers it financial aid
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covered half of it as well but out of
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pocket was mainly book expenses
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and many students will qualify for
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Grants especially the Pell Grant which
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can cut the price almost in half I
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strongly recommend that you fill out the
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FAFSA financial aid form every year even
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if you think you might not qualify there
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are so many grants
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and there are so many uh different
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avenues for financial aid and
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scholarships most colleges have private
00:15:08
foundations that handle grants and
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scholarships for students uh there are
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financial aid packages out there that
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can really help a student not just pay
00:15:19
for college but also pay for you know a
00:15:22
living while going to college
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um and I think people don't tap into
00:15:27
those resources as often and it's
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probably just because they don't realize
00:15:30
that they're out there
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plus just about everyone can deduct at
00:15:35
least some of their tuition costs from
00:15:37
their federal taxes some students if
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they do this correctly and yes paying
00:15:42
for rent and food no matter where that
00:15:44
might be counts as room and board these
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students actually end up with a pretty
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sizable refund
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so although the cost of attending school
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for surgical technology is relatively
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low you're still going to have to commit
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quite a bit of time and effort so it's
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probably a good idea to make sure that
00:16:01
this is a job you'll actually want once
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you graduate so in the next video I'll
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talk about what the job itself is like
00:16:07
and what will be expected of you
00:16:10
foreign
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[Music]
