I was 17 years of age with a GED, unemployed, with no guidance or direction, and heading down the wrong path.
I was given the opportunity by a friends mother to work as a Central Sterile Technician at Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan. I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what I was in for.
At first I was intimidated by the hospitals working environment and employees; hard working, intelligent, educated, thick skinned and professional. I threw myself head-first into unfamiliar territory.
Sterile Processing Technician was my first real job and I had to adjust to the working world quickly. My manager at the time had 26 years under her belt at Saint Vincent’s, smart, educated, stern, and a workaholic, I was quickly whipped into shape.
My co-workers at Saint Vincent’s really taught me a lot. Working as a Sterile Processing Technician or Instrument Tech, alongside healthcare professionals from various cultures and backgrounds I uncovered a world unbeknownst to me before.
Opportunities began to arise and I found myself maturing and progressing by the day. After the hospital closed I was placed by 1199 at Maimonides Medical Center where I started the process all over again, this time with a wealth of knowledge.
Sterile Processing Technician led to other things
From there I have become Supervisor of Sterile Processing, onto a Management position at NY Methodist, CSPD Educator for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and now currently the Manager for CSPD at Hoboken University Medical Center.
Without that Sterile Processing Technician position, I don’t know where I would be. Reflecting back on what that job and those people have done for me, I have decided to give back and teach a CRCST class to help young adults get their foot in the door in healthcare.
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