An integer is any whole number, including zero. An integer can be either positive or negative. Examples include -77, -1, 0, 55, 119.
| Branch | Air Force |
| MOS | 4N131 |
| Title | Surgical Services |
| Description | Participates in, and manages planning, providing, and evaluating surgical patient care activities and related training programs. Organizes the medical environment, performs and directs support activities in patient care situations, including contingency operations and disasters. Assists professional staff in providing patient care for the surgical patient before, during, and after surgery. Performs scrub and circulating duties in the operating room (OR). Assists with post-anesthesia recovery of patients. Processes, stores, and distributes sterile supplies. Participates in planning, implementing, and evaluating management activities related to the OR and Central Sterile Supply Services (CSSS). Performs duties in and supervises the urology, orthopedic, and otorhinolaryngology surgical specialties. Shredouts: B Urology C Orthopedics D Otorhinolaryngology Directs, performs, and coordinates administrative functions. In coordination with executive management team, establishes administrative policies for surgical functions and provides input into strategic resource planning. Manages the preparation of correspondence, records, and their maintenance. Determines methods and sources of obtaining data for routine or special reports. Directs, coordinates, and validates budget requirements. Serves as a consultant to MAJCOM Medical Service Manager. Participates or assists in developing and implementing command programs. Conducts staff assistance and consultant visits. Assists the executive management team with developing, interpreting, and evaluating instructions, regulations, policies, and procedures. Oversees development, implementation and evaluation of medical readiness plans and programs. Oversees and participates in implementation of continual quality improvement plans and programs. Provides, supervises and manages surgical patient care activities. Performs surgical tasks. Acts as team leader and member. Transports patients, and related records to and from the OR and recovery room. Assists nursing staff with preoperative patient preparation activities. Helps with routing medical materiel management activities. Accomplishes routine safety checks and operator preventive maintenance on fixed and moveable medical equipment and fixtures. Performs routine and specialized housekeeping activities. Prepares OR for surgery by setting up and opening sterile supplies and instruments. Assists anesthesia personnel with patient positioning and anesthesia administration. Applies principles of asepsis, infection control, and medical ethics. Assists with terminal cleanup of OR and prepares for follow-up procedures. Receives, decontaminates, and cleans soiled patient care items. Assembles, wraps, and sterilizes instrument sets, supplies, and linen packs. Stores, maintains, and distributes sterile patient care items. Assists the circulating nurse with preparing records, reports, and requests. Prepares specimens for transport to the laboratory. Performs scrub duties in OR. Scrubs hands and arms and dons sterile gown and gloves. Prepares and maintains sterile instruments, supplies, and equipment of draped tables and stands. Counts sponges, needles, instruments, and related items with circulating nurse before, during, and after surgical procedures. Assists the operative team with applying sterile drapes to the surgical field. Passes instruments, sutures, and other supplies to the sterile operative team. Anticipates surgeons needs, and provides additional assistance as directed. Cares for surgical specimens on the sterile field. Cleans and prepares instruments and reusable supplies for terminal sterilization and decontamination. Participates in contingency or disaster field training, exercises, and deployments. Performs recovery room or basic nursing duties. Assists surgeon and nursing staff with monitoring and recording vital signs. Administers oxygen, helps arouse patient, and carries out surgeons post-operative orders. Assists with identifying and managing of postoperative complications. Performs general clinic functions. Schedules and prepares patients and sets up instruments, supplies, and equipment for specialized procedures in the OR and specialty clinics. Assists specialty surgeon during surgical and diagnostic procedures. Assembles, operates, and maintains diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. Orders diagnostic laboratory and radiographic procedures as directed. Performs administrative activities unique to specific surgical clinics. Provides medical training to agencies and personnel other than medical. Training includes areas such as aseptic technique and self-aid buddy care. Schedules in-service training in new procedures, techniques, and equipment. Provides required basic life support training. Conducts or schedules periodic disaster training, Experience in functions such as general care and treatment of patients; assisting the operative team and nursing staff in surgery; preparing patients for surgery; and performing sterile, unsterile, and related surgical activities. Also, experience supervising and performing functions such as assisting surgeon and supervisor. Experience managing functions such as medical, surgical, and related patient care and administrative activities. |
| Subtests | Arithmetic Reasoning, Paragraph Comprehension, Word Knowledge |
An integer is any whole number, including zero. An integer can be either positive or negative. Examples include -77, -1, 0, 55, 119.
A rational number (or fraction) is represented as a ratio between two integers, a and b, and has the form \({a \over b}\) where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. An improper fraction (\({5 \over 3} \)) has a numerator with a greater absolute value than the denominator and can be converted into a mixed number (\(1 {2 \over 3} \)) which has a whole number part and a fractional part.
The absolute value is the positive magnitude of a particular number or variable and is indicated by two vertical lines: \(\left|-5\right| = 5\). In the case of a variable absolute value (\(\left|a\right| = 5\)) the value of a can be either positive or negative (a = -5 or a = 5).
A factor is a positive integer that divides evenly into a given number. The factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4, and 8. A multiple is a number that is the product of that number and an integer. The multiples of 8 are 0, 8, 16, 24, ...
The greatest common factor (GCF) is the greatest factor that divides two integers.
The least common multiple (LCM) is the smallest positive integer that is a multiple of two or more integers.
A prime number is an integer greater than 1 that has no factors other than 1 and itself. Examples of prime numbers include 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11.
Fractions are generally presented with the numerator and denominator as small as is possible meaning there is no number, except one, that can be divided evenly into both the numerator and the denominator. To reduce a fraction to lowest terms, divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor (GCF).
Fractions must share a common denominator in order to be added or subtracted. The common denominator is the least common multiple of all the denominators.
To multiply fractions, multiply the numerators together and then multiply the denominators together. To divide fractions, invert the second fraction (get the reciprocal) and multiply it by the first.
An exponent (cbe) consists of coefficient (c) and a base (b) raised to a power (e). The exponent indicates the number of times that the base is multiplied by itself. A base with an exponent of 1 equals the base (b1 = b) and a base with an exponent of 0 equals 1 ( (b0 = 1).
To add or subtract terms with exponents, both the base and the exponent must be the same. If the base and the exponent are the same, add or subtract the coefficients and retain the base and exponent. For example, 3x2 + 2x2 = 5x2 and 3x2 - 2x2 = x2 but x2 + x4 and x4 - x2 cannot be combined.
To multiply terms with the same base, multiply the coefficients and add the exponents. To divide terms with the same base, divide the coefficients and subtract the exponents. For example, 3x2 x 2x2 = 6x4 and \({8x^5 \over 4x^2} \) = 2x(5-2) = 2x3.
To raise a term with an exponent to another exponent, retain the base and multiply the exponents: (x2)3 = x(2x3) = x6
A negative exponent indicates the number of times that the base is divided by itself. To convert a negative exponent to a positive exponent, calculate the positive exponent then take the reciprocal: \(b^{-e} = { 1 \over b^e }\). For example, \(3^{-2} = {1 \over 3^2} = {1 \over 9}\)
Radicals (or roots) are the opposite operation of applying exponents. With exponents, you're multiplying a base by itself some number of times while with roots you're dividing the base by itself some number of times. A radical term looks like \(\sqrt[d]{r}\) and consists of a radicand (r) and a degree (d). The degree is the number of times the radicand is divided by itself. If no degree is specified, the degree defaults to 2 (a square root).
The radicand of a simplified radical has no perfect square factors. A perfect square is the product of a number multiplied by itself (squared). To simplify a radical, factor out the perfect squares by recognizing that \(\sqrt{a^2} = a\). For example, \(\sqrt{64} = \sqrt{16 \times 4} = \sqrt{4^2 \times 2^2} = 4 \times 2 = 8\).
To add or subtract radicals, the degree and radicand must be the same. For example, \(2\sqrt{3} + 3\sqrt{3} = 5\sqrt{3}\) but \(2\sqrt{2} + 2\sqrt{3}\) cannot be added because they have different radicands.
To multiply or divide radicals, multiply or divide the coefficients and radicands separately: \(x\sqrt{a} \times y\sqrt{b} = xy\sqrt{ab}\) and \({x\sqrt{a} \over y\sqrt{b}} = {x \over y}\sqrt{a \over b}\)
To take the square root of a fraction, break the fraction into two separate roots then calculate the square root of the numerator and denominator separately. For example, \(\sqrt{9 \over 16}\) = \({\sqrt{9}} \over {\sqrt{16}}\) = \({3 \over 4}\)
Scientific notation is a method of writing very small or very large numbers. The first part will be a number between one and ten (typically a decimal) and the second part will be a power of 10. For example, 98,760 in scientific notation is 9.876 x 104 with the 4 indicating the number of places the decimal point was moved to the left. A power of 10 with a negative exponent indicates that the decimal point was moved to the right. For example, 0.0123 in scientific notation is 1.23 x 10-2.
A factorial has the form n! and is the product of the integer (n) and all the positive integers below it. For example, 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120.
Arithmetic operations must be performed in the following specific order:
The acronym PEMDAS can help remind you of the order.
The distributive property for multiplication helps in solving expressions like a(b + c). It specifies that the result of multiplying one number by the sum or difference of two numbers can be obtained by multiplying each number individually and then totaling the results: a(b + c) = ab + ac. For example, 4(10-5) = (4 x 10) - (4 x 5) = 40 - 20 = 20.
The distributive property for division helps in solving expressions like \({b + c \over a}\). It specifies that the result of dividing a fraction with multiple terms in the numerator and one term in the denominator can be obtained by dividing each term individually and then totaling the results: \({b + c \over a} = {b \over a} + {c \over a}\). For example, \({a^3 + 6a^2 \over a^2} = {a^3 \over a^2} + {6a^2 \over a^2} = a + 6\).
The commutative property states that, when adding or multiplying numbers, the order in which they're added or multiplied does not matter. For example, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 give the same result, as do 3 x 4 and 4 x 3.
Ratios relate one quantity to another and are presented using a colon or as a fraction. For example, 2:3 or \({2 \over 3}\) would be the ratio of red to green marbles if a jar contained two red marbles for every three green marbles.
A proportion is a statement that two ratios are equal: a:b = c:d, \({a \over b} = {c \over d}\). To solve proportions with a variable term, cross-multiply: \({a \over 8} = {3 \over 6} \), 6a = 24, a = 4.
A rate is a ratio that compares two related quantities. Common rates are speed = \({distance \over time}\), flow = \({amount \over time}\), and defect = \({errors \over units}\).
Percentages are ratios of an amount compared to 100. The percent change of an old to new value is equal to 100% x \({ new - old \over old }\).
The average (or mean) of a group of terms is the sum of the terms divided by the number of terms. Average = \({a_1 + a_2 + ... + a_n \over n}\)
A sequence is a group of ordered numbers. An arithmetic sequence is a sequence in which each successive number is equal to the number before it plus some constant number.
Probability is the numerical likelihood that a specific outcome will occur. Probability = \({ \text{outcomes of interest} \over \text{possible outcomes}}\). To find the probability that two events will occur, find the probability of each and multiply them together.
Many of the arithmetic reasoning problems on the ASVAB will be in the form of word problems that will test not only the concepts in this study guide but those in Math Knowledge as well. Practice these word problems to get comfortable with translating the text into math equations and then solving those equations.