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Although the healthcare industry continues to expand and evolve, some professionals want to advance in their careers or leave the industry altogether.
Whether you are new to sterile processing technician, with only a year under your belt, or a seasoned professional, navigating career changes can be challenging.
Sterile processing technicians are responsible for cleaning and sanitizing tools, monitoring equipment inventory, and delivering the proper instruments to different rooms around the hospital or medical campus.
Being a sterile processing technician is an excellent stepping stone within the medical community.
As a result, there are plenty of positions available for sterile processing technicians who seek a career change or advancement.
Keep reading to learn more!
List of Alternative Careers
1. Clinical Laboratory Technician
Sterile processing technicians who are fascinated by human anatomy while still working as support staff often move into a clinical lab technician role.
Surgeons and physicians rely on these professions to manage patient samples and scientific equipment to properly record the findings.
Clinical lab technicians work under laboratory technologists to conduct automated diagnostics using computer-based tools, microscopes, and autoclaves.
The main transferrable skills from being a sterile processing technician include accurate inventory management, attention to detail, the ability to work with cross-functional teams, organizational skills, and excellent documentation.
Sterile processing technicians can transition into this role without needing an additional education program but may need specific certifications.
The primary benefits are working in a lab, ideal for those who don’t want to be patient-facing, and helping doctors find the root cause of a medical issue to provide the best treatment plan.
Also, since this is a lab-based position, clinical laboratory technicians can advance into other roles like clinical lab technologist, disease expert, and research positions.
2. Endoscopy Technician
Those who are changing careers because they want patient interaction transition into an endoscopy technician career.
These professionals utilize many of the tools that sterile processing technicians clean and sterilize.
They are also responsible for physically positioning patients in operating rooms, taking samples, and assisting doctors during procedures.
Endoscopy is medical imaging of the inside of the body using a thin tube with a camera on the end to examine specific areas or organs.
Sterile processing technicians are prepared to enter this field due to gained attention to detail, organization of equipment and samples, teamwork, and communication skills.
To enter this field, you must earn the endoscopy tech certification, which requires passing an examination.
Completing a short training program will help you prepare for the exam.
The main benefit of transitioning to an endoscopy technician is directly working with patients.
For many who enter the medical field, they want to become directly part of patients’ experiences, so having interactions with them is highly rewarding.
3. Medical Laboratory Technologist
Medical laboratory technologists oversee technician work by ensuring the instruments are correctly calibrated, creating microscope slides, growing cell cultures, searching for abnormalities, and running chemical tests.
This is a lab-based position that doesn’t have any interaction with clients but still helps doctors and nurses with treatments.
The skills learned as a sterile processing technician that can be transferred include inventory management for proper sample storage, attention to detail, organization, documentation, and communication with other medical professionals.
Medical laboratory technologists must hold a four-year degree so they are prepared to conduct complex testing and procedures.
Therefore, the jump from sterile processing technician to medical laboratory technologist is not quick and easy but is rewarding.
Benefits include excellent advancement opportunities within lab-based careers, a much higher salary due to the four-year degree requirement, and working behind the scenes for those who don’t want to be patient-facing.
4. Registered Nurse
Registered nurses (RN) are healthcare professionals who work directly with patients to provide care and treatment, educate the public and patients about their health status, and work with other healthcare professionals in hospitals and medical centers.
RNs can specialize in caring for specific ages or in specific body systems (i.e., cardiovascular).
These medical experts are highly valued members of the team who assist with a broad range of tasks in different departments.
Since nurses deal with various medical instruments, the skills learned as a sterile processing technician are easily transferrable.
These include organization, equipment procedures, sterilization processes, attention to detail, teamwork, and proper documentation.
Becoming a registered nurse requires at least a two-year associate degree plus certification.
Depending on where you completed your sterile processing technician program, some classes may transfer so that the program could be shorter.
Although there is a direct path from sterile processing technician to registered nurse, additional education is required.
The two greatest benefits of becoming a registered nurse are direct patient interaction and an increased salary.
Nurses are constantly working directly with patients, and those in long-term care get to know nurses well.
Having facetime with patients adds an entirely new dimension of satisfaction in helping others compared to being a behind-the-scenes sterile processing technician.
Nurses also make excellent starting salaries due to a high base salary, overnight differentials, and extensive overtime opportunities.
Also, career advancement within the medical community is limitless.
5. Sterile Processing Supervisor
The next step in the sterile processing technician hierarchy is being a sterile processing supervisor.
In addition to training existing and new staff, these experts manage their department, ensuring all equipment is processed using the proper documentation and regulations.
One of the greatest responsibilities of this role is to liaise between the operating room staff and your team.
All skills from being a sterile processing technician can be transferred into the supervisory role, including knowing hospital sterilization processes and procedures, cross-functional teamwork and communication, inventory management, and attention to detail.
The only new skill you will need to develop is managerial.
The only requirement for advancing within this position is experience.
You don’t need to earn a higher degree, although some hospitals may require specific certifications.
The benefits of entering this supervisory role include a high salary, team management development skills, and increased responsibility within the medical hierarchy.
6. Surgical Technologist
Surgical technologists are members of surgical teams who provide a range of services, such as holding organs in place during surgery, transporting patients to and from various rooms at a medical center, cleaning incision sites, and other tasks.
Surgical technologists work directly with patients and aid medical staff during and after procedures.
Many sterile processing technicians move into this role because surgical technologists are required to understand all tools on the operating table, organize instruments before procedures, and maintain sterility.
Therefore, transferrable skills include following and documenting sterilization procedures, attention to detail, and maintaining a high level of organization before, during, and after operations.
Although surgical technologists must take a training program that focuses on this field, there are bridge courses for other medical professionals who wish to enter this profession.
These courses require less time to complete since sterile processing technicians have similar medical experience.
Tips for Transitioning Careers
Generate an Action Plan
The first step to transitioning into a new career is to generate an action plan that recognizes your possibilities, shortcomings, and talents to help you make decisions.
The best action plans list the steps required to meet your career goals, a timetable for reaching each milestone, and the required tools.
An action plan for an individual moving from being a sterile processing technician to another medical role will be less complicated than in an outside industry.
Identify Transferrable Skills
Identifying your transferrable skills developed in other roles looks great on resumes and should be a major focal point during interviews.
These strengths help explain to a potential employer why you will make a good fit for their team and the organization.
Investigate Internships
Transitioning from a sterile processing position to another medical or hands-on field can be a difficult career to take on freelance projects.
As an alternative, finding an internship or apprenticeship is a great option for learning a new trade and gaining experience in your new role.
Depending on the target position, you may need to complete a training program to earn the internship.
On the other hand, some professions accept all types of industry professionals into their apprenticeship programs.
Network with Other Professionals
All job transitions, regardless of the industry, require networking.
Creating a network within your target field is essential to finding jobs and having a support system.
To create, maintain, and extend your network, it’s important to attend seminars, conferences, and industry speakers, as well as join professional organizations.
These industry-specific groups help you remain current on market developments, and most offer tools like webinars, job listings, and certification courses.
Seek Additional Training
To make the transition to another job, you may need additional training in the form of a degree or certification.
If none are required, seeking new skills through different course types can only benefit your career while expanding your knowledge of a specific topic.
If you lack experience in your target field, then coursework or entire programs are a terrific way to remain competitive.
Being a sterile processing technician is an excellent stepping stone into other medical fields.
Since these professionals assist and communicate with multiple departments regularly, they learn the correct processes and procedures while gaining additional skills to help them move into other medical fields or advance in their current area.
Depending on your career preferences, you can move into more patient-facing roles like nursing or surgical technologist or focus on behind-the-scenes lab work like clinical laboratory technicians.
The sterile processing technician role prepares you to transition more easily into these roles than from outside of the medical community.
The action plan you develop to meet your career goals will further help determine the profession that is right for your skill set.
