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assistant (ә-sisĀ“tәnt)   one who aids or helps another; an auxiliary.
 

first assistant  a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, surgical technologist, or specially trained registered professional nurse who directly assists the surgeon by handling tissue, providing exposure, using surgical instruments and equipment, suturing, and providing hemostasis.

second assistant  an individual who assists the surgeon or first assistant during an operative procedure by carrying out technical tasks such as holding retractors; this individual does not cut, clamp, or suture tissue. This role may be performed at the same time as the scrub role.





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