All About Act 390 and More

On March 6, 2017 Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Senate Bill 167 into Act 390...To create the Arkansas Surgical Technologists Act; And to establish the Registration of Surgical Technologists.  This was a huge accomplishment for ARSA.  Arkansas is proud to be one of only 16 states at this time, that has legislation on the state law books.  We wish to express our gratitude to our sponsors Senator David Sanders and Representative Kim Hammer as well as our Lobbyist Lucas Hargraves and Amanda Story and AST's own Cathy Sparkman.  Any Surgical Technologist employeed at least 6 months in 2017, certified or not, may register with the Arkansas State Medical Board by choosing one of the three notarized sections: education and certification; military; or work experience.  Please keep in mind that if you are registering by using the work experience section, this is a grandfathered area and this section will only be available until July 1, 2018.  

<<<< 2019 UPDATE >>>>

Arkansas Senator Cecile Bledsoe sponsored Senate Bill 270 with the backing of the Arkansas State Medical Board.  Senate Bill 270 was signed into law as Act 264 on March 4, 2019.  Act 264 extends the grandfathered deadline that a non certified surgical technologist can register with the Arkansas State Medical Board using the work experience section to March 30, 2020.  This new deadline allows non certified surgical technologists that did not register with the Medical Board before the 2018 deadline to do so before steps are taken for possible requirement.  There are no plans for a future grandfather extension.  All other provisions, including the 6 months employment span in 2017, that pertain to the Arkansas Surgical Technologists Act remains the same as in the orginal law.  After the grandfather deadline of March 30, 2020, only certified and military trained surgical technologists will be allowed to register with the Arkansas State Medical Board.  If you have any questions, please contact ARSA.

Download your Arkansas State Medical Board registration packet here:

http://www.armedicalboard.org/Professionals/SurgicalTechnologist.aspx