Start your future in the operating theatre

Are you interested in a career in a highly technical area of a hospital or surgical practice? Can you imagine preparing for and assisting with operations and diagnostic procedures? Are you looking for an exciting and demanding field of work that is constantly changing through new procedures and technical developments? Then surgical technical assistant (Operationstechnische Assistenz) is the right profession for you!

To meet the varied demands, as a surgical technical assistant you should above all bring teamwork skills and manual dexterity. Reliability, precision, a sense of responsibility and a high willingness to learn are also important requirements for the profession.

During the 3-year training, which ends with a state final examination, you will acquire sound theoretical and practical skills so that you can later independently ensure the preparation, performance and follow-up of medical diagnostic and therapeutic measures, as well as comprehensive patient care. You will gain professional, personal, social and methodological competences for responsible participation in surgical and anaesthesiology areas, the emergency department, endoscopy, the reprocessing unit for medical devices (AEMP) and other diagnostic and therapeutic functional areas. At the Akademie für medizinische Berufe you will also obtain, in parallel, the qualification in healthcare and nursing assistance and the Fachkunde I qualification in technical sterilisation assistance.

The theoretical training is provided by qualified teachers and comprises at least 2,100 hours in block teaching at the Freiburg site, at the OTA school of the Akademie für Medizinische Berufe at the Universitätsklinikum. Your subjects are varied and the learning content is aligned with the current state of scientific research and knowledge. You will receive lessons in, for example, professional studies, anatomy/physiology, anaesthesia and emergency care. You will gain in-depth knowledge of pharmacology as well as professional, legal and civic studies. Other central topics are surgery, hygiene and medical microbiology. In addition, there is pathology, hospital management, physics and chemistry. Psychology, sociology, social medicine, radiation protection, teaching/learning methodology, instruction and accident prevention round off the broad spectrum.

The practical training comprises at least 3,000 hours and takes place in the operating theatre areas, the functional units and on the wards of the Evangelisches Diakoniekrankenhaus, as well as externally in partner hospitals.

• Intermediate school-leaving certificate (Mittlere Reife) or an equivalent recognised level of education
• Proof of health suitability for work in healthcare and nursing, to be provided by means of a medical certificate,
• For nursing assistant training, a lower secondary school-leaving certificate (Hauptschulabschluss) or an equivalent recognised level of education is required.
• Police clearance certificate (Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis) upon signing the contract

You can submit your application online to pflegedirektion@diak-fr.de (PDF only, max. 3MB) or as a printed copy to the Nursing Directorate. Please be sure to enclose the following documents with your cover letter:

• a CV in tabular form,
• school-leaving certificate,
• employment references and certificates,
• evidence of internships and/or a Voluntary Social Year/Federal Volunteer Service (FSJ/BFD) is desirable but not a requirement for admission to the application process.

All places for the 2027 training intake have been filled. Applications are no longer being accepted.

• Please direct any queries by telephone to the Nursing Directorate on 0761 1301-9030
• E-mail address: pflegedirektion@diak-fr.de