on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. Accredited programs provide both didactic education and supervised clinical experience based on a core curriculum for surgical technology. Accredited programs may be offered in community and junior colleges, vocational and technical schools, the military, universities, and structured hospital programs in surgical technology. The accredited programs vary from nine to 15 months for a diploma or certificate to two years for an associates degree, which is the preferred entry level but not required. Graduates of accredited surgical technology programs are eligible for certification by the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA), an administratively independent body from the Association of Surgical Technologists consisting of representative Certified Surgical Technologists, a surgeon, and the public. The American College of Surgeons strongly supports adequate education and training of all surgical technologists, supports the accreditation of all surgical technology educational programs, and supports examination for certification of all graduates of accredited surgical technology educational programs. The professional organization for surgical technologists is the AST. Its primary purpose is to ensure that surgical technologists have the knowledge and skills to administer quality patient care and is the principal provider in conjunction with more than 40 state organizations of continuing education for surgical technologists. However, certifications are also available from the NBSTSA, the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT), and the National Healthcare Association (NHA). These are the Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) credential, the Tech in Surgery-Certified (TS-C) credential, and the Certified Operating Room and Surgical Technician (CORST) credential, respectively. A "Certified Surgical Technologist" must earn sixty credits to renew their credential with the NBSTSA. It is a two step process to renew their credential: submit continuing education credits (CEC) to the AST and submit the appropriate renewal form to the NBSTSA with the correct renewal fee. NBSTSA renews a certification every two years. The renewal application must be submitted months before the expiration date. The expiration date is printed on the certification card or certificate. To renew a "Certified Surgical Technologist" credential is important to delivering the best care possible for the surgical patient. Mozambique In Mozambique, surgical technologists first qualify as clinical officers then, after working for at least three years, they complete another three-year program that focuses on obstetrics, traumatology and emergency medicine. The first two years involve supervised surgical training under senior surgeons at Maputo Central Hospital followed by an internship year at a