Surgical Technologists
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.
117,460 people do this job in the US. $64,650 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 3%
- 0%
- 97%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 21% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 21% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min25 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min25 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min8 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).