John and Kelly welcome surgical first assistant and advocate Amy Burton to discuss pathways into first assisting, the legal and patient-safety risks of “dual rolling” as both first assistant and scrub tech, and why malpractice coverage, documentation, and courtroom scrutiny make it unsafe despite staffing pressures. Amy shares her career shift from banking to CST, early transition into first assisting, independent practice challenges, and later stability with a surgical services group across Texas and Florida, noting differences in certification, licensure, and professional respect. She describes how a retained lap case led to expert witness work and increased advocacy through ASA involvement, social media content, and her role as COO of Surgefluencers to raise awareness of assistants’ value beyond “camera holding.” The conversation covers misconceptions about the role, professionalism, networking, conferences, the need for legislation and certification, and building trust with surgeons through teamwork, humility, and patient-focused leadership.

https://www.surgfluencers.com/

https://www.instagram.com/assist_this/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-burton-csfa-lsa/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BopZ%2BdlKURGOaNlzvlJ0ItA%3D%3D

https://www.linkedin.com/company/vytalentsolutions/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_detail_base%3Btkaor2YzSZWBFitjLR8%2F2g%3D%3D

https://allstarssurgical.com/

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:54 Dual Role Debate

02:13 Legal and Safety Risks

03:43 Understaffing and Boundaries

05:31 Amy’s Career Path

08:56 Advocacy and Social Media

09:57 Expert Witness and Surgefluencers

12:07 Public Awareness and Career Outreach

16:18 Challenges Facing Assistants

18:24 Misconceptions About the Role

24:22 Professionalism and Networking

26:02 Earning Surgeon Trust

31:29 Earning Surgeon Trust

32:43 Quiet Leadership in the OR

35:43 Advocating for Patients

36:55 Humility and Lifelong Learning

39:38 Owning Mistakes Protecting Team

41:06 Future of the Profession

42:44 Legislation and ASA Membership

46:32 Conferences and Continuing Education

52:04 Where to Find Amy

53:46 Final Wrap Up

John and Kelly welcome James Romero from New Wave Endo for a product spotlight and demonstration of the MClose Port Site Pain Management Closure System used in laparoscopic and robotic port closure. James explains how MClose deploys two needles simultaneously for consistent 1 cm, 180-degree suture placement, enables local anesthetic delivery to the nerve plane via a first “click,” and improves safety by avoiding exposed needles and reducing risk near bowel. They cover kit contents, wire loading, the three-click workflow, common troubleshooting (missing the second click, thin-patient skin capture, plunger retraction), and techniques for large defects (apex-to-apex, multiple sutures). The group discusses reduced dimpling, less pain and opioid requests, learning curve, use cases (8 mm and larger), and pricing around the $80 range, plus how to request demos, trials, and training via New Wave Endo.

Videos Mentioned by James:

step-by-step instruction video:https://vimeo.com/1088939567?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci

https://youtu.be/4W0h883TJWk?si=tfWM3KjOlI1eAooZ

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17666655/

https://europepmc.org/article/MED/17666655

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:44 Meet James Romero

02:01 Why MClose Exists

03:12 Kit Contents Overview

04:29 Reloading the Wire

05:32 Consistent Safe Needle Placement

06:19 Trocar Through-Trocar Technique

07:10 Three Click Workflow Demo

10:07 Suture Loading and Removal

13:23 Clinical Benefits and Outcomes

14:51 Thin Patient Tips

16:48 Training and Demo Kits

17:44 Cost and Value Comparison

22:10 Learning Curve and OR Adoption

23:13 Bleeding Case Evidence

23:57 Three Clicks Troubleshooting

25:34 Speed and Handling Tips

27:37 Closing Large Defects

29:58 Cost and Value Pitch

31:43 Safety and Pain Benefits

34:36 Port Size Guidelines

38:37 Wrap Up and Resources

On the Surgical Assistant Podcast, John and Kelly interviewChristopher Sweebe, CSFA and founder/CEO of Precision Surgical Resources, about helping surgical assistants transition from W2 employment to independent 1099practice without getting overwhelmed by business operations. Sweebe explains PSR’s “fractional back office” model and partnerships (including All Starz anda long-time billing company) that support LLC setup, insurance, taxes, credentialing, collections, and facility contracting, while emphasizing that market factors like payer mix and state rules can determine whether independence is viable. He highlights common reimbursement barriers and a key documentation “pearl” for avoiding denials: the op note must include the assistant’s name and credential and clearly state why they were needed and what they did. The episode also covers PSR’s 20% fee, Weekly Fridaypayments,transparency, lack of non-competes, and longer-term efforts like grants to train surgical technologists.

https://precision-surgical.net/

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:57 Why PSR Exists

02:54 Independence Roadmap

06:23 Fractional Back Office

07:50 Billing Rules by State

12:04 No Noncompete Model

13:25 Dictation Gets You Paid

17:59 Pricing and Transparency

20:21 Facility Contracts Strategy

29:07 Weekly Pay and Denials

33:36 All Starz Risk Model

36:49 Outsourcing Billing Risk

37:20 Op Note Denials Basics

37:57 No Gatekeeping Support

39:10 Fees and Payer Mix

40:29 How Onboarding Works

42:04 Profit Sharing Teams

44:27 Reimbursement Nuances

46:21 Turnkey Practice Setup

49:23 Owner Mindset Required

52:56 Transparency and Responsiveness

54:54 Future Grants Pipeline

58:32 Hard Work and Processes

01:04:05 Contact and Next Steps