---
type: "Bill"
title: "Medical Occupations - As enacted, prohibits any person from using the title \"registered surgical assistant\" unless such person is registered with the board of medical examiners as a registered surgical assistant; requires the board to register as a registered surgical assistant any applicant who presents satisfactory evidence that the applicant meets certain requirements. - Amends TCA Title 63 and Title 68."
description: "Medical Occupations - As enacted, prohibits any person from using the title \"registered surgical assistant\" unless such person is registered with the board of medical examiners as a registered surgical assistant; requires the board to register as a registered surgical assistant any applicant who presents satisfactory evidence that the applicant meets certain requirements. - Amends TCA Title 63 and Title 68."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "SB 789"
citation: "Tennessee SB 789 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Medical Occupations"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dickerson", "Sargent"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 45
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-02-08"
last_action: "2017-05-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b8d59514-860e-4730-b238-31d6a2e7eecb"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0789&GA=110"
source_hash: "a8504dac7239da56226435e038b4ef34215c19f447ad7ec3338325f2549e847f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 789 (110) — Medical Occupations - As enacted, prohibits any person from using the title "registered surgical assistant" unless such person is registered with the board of medical examiners as a registered surgical assistant; requires the board to register as a registered surgical assistant any applicant who presents satisfactory evidence that the applicant meets certain requirements. - Amends TCA Title 63 and Title 68.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/SB0789.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 6, Nays 2 PNV 0 3/29/2017 Passed — **6–2** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/8/2017 Passed (1) — **88–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: THIRD CONSIDERATION AMENDED 4/10/2017 Passed (1) — **28–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Dickerson — primary (person)
- Sargent — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-08** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-09** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Intro. `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-13** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
- **2017-02-13** P1C.
- **2017-02-15** Assigned to s/c Health Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-15** P2C, ref. to Health Committee-- Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-15** Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 3/22/2017
- **2017-03-22** Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 3/29/2017
- **2017-03-22** Reset on Final cal. of Health Subcommittee
- **2017-03-23** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/29/2017
- **2017-03-29** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 6, Nays 2 PNV 0
- **2017-03-29** Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 4/5/2017
- **2017-03-29** Action Def. in s/c Health Subcommittee to 4/5/2017
- **2017-04-05** Placed on cal. Health Committee for 4/11/2017
- **2017-04-05** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Health Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-06** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 4/10/2017
- **2017-04-10** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 28, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2017-04-10** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0262)
- **2017-04-11** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2017-04-11** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-12** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/19/2017
- **2017-04-13** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2017-04-19** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/26/2017
- **2017-04-25** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/26/2017
- **2017-04-25** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-25** Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-26** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-26** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 4/26/2017
- **2017-04-26** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-02** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 5/2/2017
- **2017-05-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/8/2017
- **2017-05-08** Passed H., Ayes 88, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2017-05-08** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0370) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2017-05-08** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2017-05-08** Comp. SB subst.
- **2017-05-09** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2017-05-09** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2017-05-09** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2017-05-11** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2017-05-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-23** Pub. Ch. 410
- **2017-05-23** Effective date(s) 07/01/2017
- **2017-05-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 410

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b8d59514-860e-4730-b238-31d6a2e7eecb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).