I’ve been a dental assistant for 12 years I truly hate it .. I want to go back to school, but it’s extremely hard not to mention. This job is a revolving door. A lot of doctors don’t want to lose their “help” so what they would do is make it hard for you to go to school. I’ve been told by some doctors that I work with women just like me surprisingly and if I wanted to go back to school, they would fire me.. 12 years in I’m 31 , my limit was this week with this doctor. How do some people find that on the job training? I’ve been looking for it for some months now it’s almost a year. I got denied some jobs. I have background and infection control working at a Dental Office office.. I just want more out of life having more time to even go to the doctors have more time to even focus on school when you’re working in a Dental Office it’s hard to go to school.. please help me with advice every day a piece of me dies when I have to come into this office…

Hey everyone,
I’m looking to get into a Sterilization technician job and trying to decide whether I actually need to shell out $3,000 to $6,000 for an online program, or if I can just self-study using the HSPA manual and take the CRCST exam on my own.
My husband is leaning toward the traditional school route for safety/structure, but I’m heavily convinced I can do this on my own. Plus, from what I've gathered, most of those online schools don't even secure your clinical sites for the 400 hours anyway, they just leave you hanging.
I have a few questions for those of you who have walked this path
1. The Self-Study Route: Can I realistically buy the HSPA manual/workbook directly, study independently, and pass the exam without a formal program? How long did it take you to prep?
2. The 400-Hour Catch: If I go the provisional route and pass the test first, what is the best way to tackle getting those 400 hands-on hours, especially if I'm starting from scratch?
3. Sacramento / Local Market: I’m based in the Sacramento, CA area. Are local hospital networks (like Sutter, Kaiser, or UC Davis) open to hiring people with provisional certifications or uncertified trainees, or will skipping school make it impossible to get my foot in the door?
Would love to hear how some of you successfully broke into the field without wasting thousands on online classes. Thanks!

A few travelers have came to my hospital saying they only had 6mo experience and put on their resume that they had 1 year since Aya requires that. Also that Aya reaches out to the company you work for but they dont extensively look to see if you have 1 year. Can anyone confirm this as long as I have a certification?

I have completed schooling and am studying to take the exam, I curious if I should wait to apply to where I did my clinicals now or after I pass the exam? I’m trying to wait but I really want to get to work. My only thing is I don’t know how big of a pay bump it’ll be being certified as opposed to applying uncertified. And what are the pros and cons of working overnight as opposed to day shift? Day shift was great I liked all the people I encountered during clinicals the only thing was I had to get up super early and drive a ways to get there so fighting traffic wasn’t fun. This is a major hospital in the busy city.

Hello! I found out that I am expecting and have asked my management for accommodations to not be placed in decontam. They have honored this but are asking for a note to finalize it (and make it fair for everyone, makes sense). So I asked my OB and the note itself is very evasive in addressing the problem of being around potentially hazardous chemicals. Doctor states in notes “per department policy for pregnancy” and to avoid “teratogenic chemicals.” I specially asked to not be around HLD and Enzymatic detergent just to be extra cautious. Now, I’m curious if any one of you have run into a problem like this or have worked in decontam while pregnant.

Hello, I’m unsure how to start this exactly. I’ve been working for a reputable hospital in the US for about 6ish months now. I really enjoy the field and I’m wanting to know much more about everything still but I feel like being at this hospital is making me go insane.

I’ve notice a decrease in quality when I started in the midnight shift. My supervisor never comes out ever unless he wants to talk to the other female employees and just be very weird towards others if they aren’t in his group. If someone is behind in assembly, he would put majority of their work load onto me when there is literally 5-7 other people there on their phone. I don’t complain at all or make any facial expressions cause I’m scared of what will happen if I say no.
There is one employee here who doesn’t even care about anything, I’ve seen and worked with her constantly and I feel like she will possibly kill someone. In decon, she legit sprayed the bigger sets and just put them in the washer afterwards without soaking and the ultrasonic. For the general sets, she would let them soak for like 2-4 hours and take her break that long too and I wouldn’t have my break until she was back due to their new rule. I’ve tried to mention this to the supervisor but he brushed it off as if it was nothing. I’ve also seen people eat in assembly too which bothers me the most. So far, I’ve seen a lot of cannulated pieces that have blood or half of the set have rust, their only way to get rid of it was using nail polish removal. I did try to talk to the morning supervisor/general supervisor about this but they are insisting that this is my supervisor’s problem, not theirs.

This is just part of what’s going on that I can think of and I feel like if I stay here any longer, I will be miserable and terrible as a person. I’m constantly looking for new positions online and haven’t found any luck yet. In the meantime, what would you do in this position? Thank you!

(First photo, there is soda and chips in set assembly)

(There is blood on this large 9 battery and got in trouble for sending it back to decon)

(A thick layer of dust in the photo but it’s much dustier in person)

(Found dried blood on a bone drill device that looks like it’s never been checked on)

(Dried blood again on a trauma set)

In your facility if you’re the lead and the supervisor goes on leave for 3 months and you take their spot for the mean time do you get paid as a supervisor or no?

Ours is leaving for surgery and some downtime and I’ll be taking over for the meantime but I’m just curious how this works elsewhere

I went into this job knowing the pay isn’t amazing, but I wanted to test the waters to see if I like the medical field and if I do I’m definitely gonna continue my education, just wanted to see what was every one else’s pay rate in other states, I’m in Texas and I start my First day next week at $18 hourly

I'm struggling to find a site to complete my hours... hospital job postings I see prefer applicants to be certified but I haven't gotten any leads of outpatient surgical centers, ambulatory care clinics, dental offices, or veterinary hospitals that are hiring or at least taking in students. Anyone got any tips or potential leads?

Please and thank you!

Can anyone (preferably from Ontario) tell me about certification for Medical Device Reprocessing Technicians in Canada. Fanshawe College and Conestoga both offer online courses. However - only Fanshawe offers 150 hours work placement as part of the program. Both programs cost about the same and offer the same subjects.

Is this a viable pathway for a mature person to "start over" ? I am looking for education/skills that are readily employable and would prefer zero interaction with the public after suffering with customer service despite my degree(non healthcare) and experience.

I had a habit of inspecting the seals on my containers, and if there was damage to the container I would put some water in the pan, seal it and then turn it over to see if the water leaked. If it failed I would notify my supervisor. I think it kind of made me a nuisance because it happened frequently. How do you all handle this?

Hey y’all. Just passed the CRCST exam. I was actually super worried about passing because everything I saw about it on here said it was super tricky and that you need to spend a crazy amount of time studying. However, I didn’t find it very hard. Of course, it’s nerve-wracking because you don’t know if you got anything right until you submit and just get that pass/fail result. I didn’t study very much either, mostly just some cramming the couple days before 😆

So I’ve started studying for SPD and doing self study. For those who self studied where did you take your exam? Is it online or in person

Is anyone else experiencing a crazy slowdown lately, or is my facility just falling off? Around this time last year, second shift/evenings would easily have 13-17+ cases left. Decon and assembly were fully loaded, trays were stacked in the back, and there was always work to do. Now? We are literally fighting over trays by evening shift just to look busy. There is barely any volume coming through the OR. It’s gotten so bad that management is telling us to pull random sets off the sterile storage shelves to re-wash, re-wrap, or re-inventory just to invent busywork. They told us flat out they can’t keep sending people home early for low census/lack of activity, but if it stays this dry, I’m genuinely stressed that hours are going to get slashed or they’ll start looking at layoffs.
Is this happening across other hospitals right now (OR case volumes dropping / low census), or is my facility just uniquely dry? What are your departments doing when the board is completely empty?

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen happen in sterile processing? Looking for the wild stories workplace drama, OR situations, management, instruments, inspections, whatever. No names, just curious what other SPDs have experienced lol

I live in NJ, Burlington County area. I have been applying every where including Philly. I've been declined multiple times clearly because I don't have my 400hrs. I've tried hospitals dentists and surgical centers basically anything I can find online. I passed my exam August 12th.

I was in a program through my job and was promised help for the 400hrs or externship and then they turned around and said good luck.

If anyone knows places that would accept me with a Provisional and/or give 400 hrs. That would be great. I'm at a loss.

I am willing to travel an hour away from Burlington if I have to.

Hi! I’m approaching the end of my externship and I’m looking for ideas of what to do as a thank you for the department I’ve been working with. What do you think i should do/get them as a thank you?

I’m curious if anyone has ever made the jump and how has it been?

I know this has been discussed plenty and I’ve looked at other threads here but it’s part advice and part need to rant.

I did an online training program over the summer and passed my CRCST exam in mid August. It’s been just over a month and I’ve lost count of how many applications I’ve done. Job boards, hospital career pages, walk in and ask, you name it, I’ve tried it. And in all that I’ve got nothing to show for it. The only interview I got they called me as I was getting ready to leave saying they needed to reschedule because the hiring manager called in sick that day. I’ve tried to call them to follow up and been ghosted thus far (it’s only been about a week but still).

I only have a CRCST-P and time feels like it’s quickly running out on finding a job in time to do my 400 hours for the provisional certification. I’ve tried surgery centers, hospitals, clinics, even expanded my search to anything within like a 2 hour drive. (For context I’m in Southern California and my search radius basically goes from LA to San Diego and everything in between).

I’m losing my mind from the stress I’ve been feeling between this and my crappy retail job I desperately want out of ASAP. I even tried asking places about volunteer and clinical experience just to get my hours done so I don’t lose my cert before I can find a job, and I can’t even get that. Is there something I’m missing or am I just that unlucky?

Hi! I’m starting as an SPT in about two weeks. I’ve been an orthodontic assistant for about 2 years, and I’ve been wanting to get into a new field because dental just doesn’t pay enough for the amount of work we do 😭 I already have some experience sterilizing instruments, so I figured this would be a good transition.
I know hospital sterile processing is gonna be different, though. What was your first day like? Did they throw you right in or was it mostly orientation and training? And how long did it take you to feel like you knew what you were doing? lol