Our History

The Kaiser Permanente/Pasadena City College Anesthesia Technology Program (KPAT) began as a request from Kaiser Permanente leadership to provide additional training and education to Kaiser Permanente’s employed anesthesia technicians in Southern California.

Through extensive research, Michael Boytim, CRNA, EdD, Assistant Director of the Kaiser Permanente/California State University Fullerton School of Anesthesia, developed a draft academic and clinical curriculum to educate applicants from the community to become certified anesthesia technologists. The goal was to develop an associate degree educational program that would provide instruction to students to operate within a full scope of practice at the certified anesthesia technologist level upon graduation from the program, thus standardizing anesthesia technology practice in the Southern California area.

Dr. Boytim partnered with the Pasadena City College Health Sciences Division to offer an Associate of Science Degree/Certificate of Completion program. This was the first program in the U.S. to provide anesthesia technology education at the community college level.

Vicki Reyes, Certified Anesthesia Technologist, was then hired to further refine the educational program due to her vast experience in anesthesia technology leadership, education, and practice, as well as her affiliation as a pillar within the American Society of Anesthesia Technologists and Technicians (ASATT).

Upon graduation of the first class, all graduates immediately found positions throughout the area and achieved a 100% pass rate on the National Certification Examination (NCE) on their first attempt. This record of excellence still stands today.

The anesthesia community has seen an increase in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of our graduates which has greatly improved anesthesia care delivery and fostered the desire of current non-certified technicians to obtain additional education, enabling them to become certified through NCE. This has advanced the scope of practice throughout the anesthesia community, which promoted the employment trend to certified anesthesia technologists.

Dr. Boytim and Ms. Reyes have also developed the Committee on Accreditation of Anesthesia Technology Education, revised the NCE at the technologist level, and held a variety of positions with the ASATT Board of Directors, resulting in large national growth of educational anesthesia technology educational programs.

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