COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College leaders and students are celebrating a milestone for the college’s surgical technology program.

Several NIC programs, including surgical technology and nursing, are separately accredited through specialized bodies. The surgical technology program has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs since 2019.

During the regular board meeting Wednesday night, program director Terra Lawson-Gilbert announced that CAAHEP renewed the program’s accreditation through 2034. The decision came after a recent virtual site visit.

“It’s further evidence that NIC is a great community college,” Trustee Tarie Zimmerman said.

Surgical technologists prepare operating rooms for surgery, sterilize equipment and maintain the sterile field, ready patients for surgery and help surgeons during procedures by passing them instruments and other sterile supplies.

“We tend to be the unsung heroes of the operating room,” Lawson-Gilbert said. “We are definitely dedicated to making sure (patients) have a seamless surgical experience.”

Lawson-Gilbert got choked up when she described the overwhelmingly positive feedback given by accreditors.

“The site visitors stated they had not experienced for themselves what it was like to have such a strong community involvement,” she said, adding that three surgeons sit on the program’s advisory committee, while most programs have only one. “The clinical affiliates were so involved and so appreciative of the program and the quality of our students.”

NIC President Nick Swayne said accreditors were impressed by what they saw.

“These folks do these accreditation reviews across the country,” he said. “They said, ‘This is the best program we’ve seen. We’ve never seen a program that had real MDs come in and work with the students.’ They were effusive about it.”

The program has expanded to two 10-student cohorts a year. Lawson-Gilbert noted that the local and regional demand for surgical technologists is likely high enough to support a third cohort, though an additional instructor would be needed.

“In Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, there are 50 job openings right now for these students,” she said. “These students will get to pick and choose where they want to work.”

A whopping 98% of NIC surgical technology students pass the national certification exam, Lawson-Gilbert said, compared to an average of 73% nationally.

Current students and recent graduates shared how the program has impacted their lives.

Nicole Kilborn, who grew up in St. Maries, completed NIC’s program in July. She now works at Northwest Speciality Hospital.

“I enjoy being a key role in a patient’s journey,” she said.