Rob Blackston, MEd, CSFA, CST, FAST, has served as ARC/STSA Accreditation Manager since April 1, 2022. With more than 18 years as a practicing CST and CSFA, Blackston has scrubbed and assisted in all specialties but is not shy about expressing his love for the neurosurgical and orthopedic specialties. Over the last 12 years, he has served as the program director for surgical technology programs in Idaho and Montana, most recently, starting a new surgical technology program at North Idaho College, in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
Blackston has served for more than 10 years as an ARC/STSA site visitor and has also served on the Montana AST State Assembly’s Board of Directors and the Idaho AST State Assembly as President. He has served as a panel member for the Core Curriculum for Surgical Technology, Seventh Edition, a member of the AST Education and Professional Standards Committee, and has been a contributor and reviewer for numerous surgical technology textbooks. In 2021, he was awarded the Fellow of the Association of Surgical Technology (FAST) designation.
Blackston earned his Master of Educational Technology, with a certificate in Online Teaching, from Boise State University, in 2018. He was awarded the Carolyn Thorson departmental award for excellence in educational technology and graduated with honors.