Surgical Assistant: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

A surgical assistant is a skilled practitioner who has undergone formalized education and training as a surgical assistant. The surgical assistant performs surgical functions that include, but are not limited to: retracting, manipulating, suturing, clamping, cauterizing, litigating, and tying tissue; suctioning, irrigating and sponging; positioning the patient; closure of body planes and skin; and participating in hemostasis and volume replacement. Surgical assistants are certified and registered or licensed by the state, or, in states without licensure, certified as surgical assistants by completing appropriate education and training.

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For this specialty, the sole-proprietor share may include practitioners who work across different surgical settings or arrangements, including roles connected to larger practices or facilities. Because the field is self-reported in NPPES, it is an imperfect proxy for private practice and should not be read as a direct count of independent surgical assistants.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• NPI records are administrative identifiers and may not correspond one-to-one with unique practitioners.
• Taxonomy selection and update timing can affect counts, especially when providers have multiple classifications.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions