The Sterile Processing Technician program at Dorsey College is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed for a career in this specialized area of the healthcare field. Sterile Processing Technicians play an essential role in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The work they do is important because it contributes to ensuring safety for patients and staff alike.
Duties performed in the central service department follow a strict processing cycle. This includes principles and practices of decontamination, cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, assembly and packaging of instrumentation and equipment, storage, and distribution of medical and surgical supplies. If you are thinking about enrolling in a sterile processing technician course, it is important to receive the proper training.
At Dorsey College, our Sterile Processing Technician program can help you prepare for a rewarding new career in the central service departments of a hospital or other healthcare facility.
Looking for “sterile processing technician schools near me?”
If you are looking for “sterile processing technician schools near me,” the Sterile Processing Technician program is offered at the following Dorsey College campus locations:Sterile Processing Technician School – Things You Can Learn
When choosing a sterile processing technician school, it’s important to select one where you can “learn by doing.” This hands-on approach to learning can assist students in attaining the knowledge and skills needed for success during their training.
Students who enroll at a sterile processing technician school should expect to cover a variety of topics as part of their training. A Sterile Processing Technician program may cover topics such as:
- Medical terminology
- Anatomy and physiology
- Microbiology
- The role of Sterile Processing Technicians
- Safety and risk management
- Decontamination, cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization
- Assembly and packaging of equipment
- Storage and distribution of medical and surgical supplies
- Overview of surgical instruments
- Professionalism and communication skills
- …and more!
In addition, a sterile processing technician school may provide students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned in a clinical setting. At Dorsey College, the Sterile Processing Technician program includes coverage of each of the topics above, and more!
When you train at Dorsey College, you can complete your Sterile Processing Technician training in less than a year. That means you can learn the knowledge and skills needed to pursue your new healthcare career in a relatively short amount of time!
Sterile Processing Technician training at Dorsey College
Students who choose Dorsey College for their Sterile Processing Technician training can benefit from both flexibility as well as learning in a hands-on environment. This is because the Sterile Processing Technician training program at Dorsey College is delivered in a hybrid format.
Hybrid training at Dorsey College means that some classes will take place online via distance education and others will happen at a Dorsey College campus where students can benefit from hands-on training. There is also a clinical training component included. Hybrid learning can offer students the best of both worlds!
You may also be wondering, what type of sterile processing technician classes will I take at Dorsey College? Students enrolled in the Sterile Processing Technician training program at Dorsey College will have the following classes as part of their curriculum:
- Intro to Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology
- Anatomy and Physiology with Medical Terminology A
- Anatomy and Physiology with Medical Terminology B
- Introduction to Central Processes
- The Processing Cycle
- Surgical Instrumentation
- Sterile Processing Capstone
The Sterile Processing Technician training at Dorsey College includes six months of contact time, which is scheduled over seven months. This means that in just a matter of months, you could complete your Sterile Processing Technician training with help from Dorsey College!
Attaining Sterile Processing Technician Certification
Graduates who successfully complete the Sterile Processing Technician program at Dorsey College are eligible to sit for an applicable certification exam. Professional certifications can enhance the prospect of ultimately securing and maintaining rewarding employment.
Dorsey College encourages graduates to sit for applicable certification examinations. However, Dorsey College makes no promise or guarantee of a graduate’s successful outcome of any certification examination or ability to gain certification or recognition by any professional registry. Each certification agency may have additional requirements (for example, work experience) in addition to passing the certification examination. Therefore, it is each student’s/graduate’s responsibility to ensure they meet the necessary requirements set forth by the certification agency.
Dorsey College is committed to assisting students in their journey towards pursuing certification and launching their new career. As such, Dorsey College will pay the cost, one time, for graduates from this program to challenge a certification exam, as selected by Dorsey College, as long as the graduate has completed the program-specific requirements.
Career Outlook for Sterile Processing Technicians & Central Service Technicians
A career as a Sterile Processing Technician can be both rewarding and stable. This is because healthcare facilities rely on the important work these professionals do in order to preserve the safety of patients and staff. For example, ensuring instruments are sterilized properly is essential in preventing infection.
Many may also choose this career path because it provides them with a way to break into the medical field. Those individuals may later choose to further their education and training to pursue advancement opportunities within the healthcare field.
Sterile Processing Technicians are most often found working in the Central Service Department of a hospital. They can also be found in other healthcare facilities that have medical equipment that must be sterilized regularly.
The duties of a Sterile Processing Technician may include cleaning instruments and preparing them for sterilization, operating and maintaining autoclaves, keeping accurate records, organizing and assembling instrument trays and surgical supplies, inventory management, and stocking medical supplies and equipment.
Sterile Processing Technicians may work under a variety of other occupational titles. These may include Central Processing Technician, Central Service Technician, and a Medical Equipment Preparer, just to name a few.
If pursuing a career as a Sterile Processing Technician sounds like the right choice for you, contact Dorsey College today to learn how you can begin your training!
Sterile Processing Technician Frequently Asked Questions
Want to learn more about:
- What Sterile Processing Technicians Do
- Becoming a Sterile Processing Technician
- The Dorsey College Sterile Processing Technician program
Check out our Sterile Processing Technician FAQ page!
Accreditation
Dorsey College is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education. This applies to the Madison Heights campus (which serves as the main campus) and the Grand Rapids, Roseville, and Woodhaven campuses (which are branch campus locations of Madison Heights). Contact information for the Council on Occupational Education is as follows: 7840 Roswell Road, Building 300, Suite 325, Atlanta, GA 30350, telephone: 770-396-3898 / FAX: 770-396-3790, www.council.org.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is available to those who qualify.
Additional Information
For your reference, we’ve included the following website that includes more information on Sterile Processing Technicians, and they work they do daily:
O*Net OnLine – Medical Equipment Preparers: https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/31-9093.00
