Respiratory therapy technician to doctors' surgery assistant
A respiratory therapy technician already meets 29% of what the doctors' surgery assistant role asks for. The move turns on 31 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.3/ 100
1 How much of what a doctors' surgery assistant is expected to do is already part of a respiratory therapy technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the doctors' surgery assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A doctors' surgery assistant role treats 15 of its required skills as things a respiratory therapy technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply context specific clinical competences
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- contribute to continuity of health care
- develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
What stands in the way is 31 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A doctors' surgery assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a respiratory therapy technician background worth leading with.
- already held provide pre-treatment information communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held conduct polysomnography information skills
- already held medical informatics health and welfare
- already held medical terminology health and welfare
- already held health care legislation business, administration and law
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship communication, collaboration and creativity
All 16 carried skills, including the 15 the doctors' surgery assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 50 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn perform reconstructive plastic surgery required
- still to learn answer patients' questions required
- still to learn assist in epilepsy surgery required
- still to learn maintain healthcare user data confidentiality required
- still to learn operate patients with thoracic diseases required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn deal with emergency care situations required
- still to learn empathise with the healthcare user required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held assist patients with special needs optional
- optional, not held assist with hemostasis optional
- optional, not held perform venepuncture procedures optional
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn provide test results to medical staff required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn provide health education required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held offer advice on diet-related concerns optional
- optional, not held perform procurement processes optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn anaesthetics required
- still to learn multi-professional cooperation in health care required
- still to learn professional documentation in health care required
- still to learn surgical asepsis required
- still to learn techniques of blood-sampling required
- optional, not held spine surgery optional
- optional, not held wound closure techniques optional
- optional, not held clinical reports optional
- optional, not held radiological procedures optional
- still to learn maintain treatment records required
- still to learn monitor patients' progress related to treatment required
- still to learn record healthcare users' progress related to treatment required
- still to learn process medical insurance claims required
- optional, not held analyse X-ray imagery optional
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn health records management required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- optional, not held supervise medical office support workers optional
- optional, not held administer appointments optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a doctors' surgery assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 perform reconstructive plastic surgery practise this
- 02 accept own accountability practise this
- 03 administrative tasks in a medical environment study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 16 skills that carry over
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held health care legislation knowledge
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held provide pre-treatment information skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held conduct polysomnography skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn health care system required
- optional, not held collect biological samples from patients optional
- optional, not held take blood samples optional
- optional, not held use venepuncture procedure equipment optional
19 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held spine surgery optional
- optional, not held wound closure techniques optional
- optional, not held analyse X-ray imagery optional
- optional, not held assist patients with special needs optional
- optional, not held assist with hemostasis optional
- optional, not held clinical reports optional
- optional, not held collect biological samples from patients optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- optional, not held perform venepuncture procedures optional
- optional, not held radiological procedures optional
- optional, not held supervise medical office support workers optional
- optional, not held take blood samples optional
- optional, not held use venepuncture procedure equipment optional
- optional, not held administer appointments optional
- optional, not held offer advice on diet-related concerns optional
- optional, not held perform procurement processes optional
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
15 held skills the doctors' surgery assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures skill
- not needed by the target role clinical imaging techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role clinical perfusion knowledge
- not needed by the target role emergency surgery knowledge
- not needed by the target role first aid knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- not needed by the target role interpret medical images skill
- not needed by the target role operate breathing equipment skill
- not needed by the target role operate heart-lung machines skill
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
- not needed by the target role rehabilitation of all organ systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role respiratory medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role respiratory therapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role surgery knowledge
14 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn anaesthetics required
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn multi-professional cooperation in health care required
- still to learn professional documentation in health care required
- still to learn surgical asepsis required
- still to learn techniques of blood-sampling required
- still to learn health care system required
- optional, not held spine surgery optional
- optional, not held wound closure techniques optional
- optional, not held clinical reports optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- optional, not held radiological procedures optional
Other moves recorded from respiratory therapy technician
Common questions about this move
Can a respiratory therapy technician become a doctors' surgery assistant?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A respiratory therapy technician already covers 29% of what a doctors' surgery assistant is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 15 of which the doctors' surgery assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a respiratory therapy technician need to become a doctors' surgery assistant?
31 required skills are missing, plus 19 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is perform reconstructive plastic surgery.
How hard is the move from respiratory therapy technician to doctors' surgery assistant?
Its learning distance is 80.3 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.