Surgical Technology
Surgical Technology
Surgery stopswithoutyour work.
Learn sterile technique, surgical instruments, and patient care, then earn the credentials hospitals require — including your CNA and the sterile processing certification that lets you handle the instruments a surgeon uses. Very few high school students ever see this side of medicine.
$47,700 median
What sterile processing techs earn, and CRCST is the credential hospitals require to hire you.
2 Years
Junior and senior year. A senior-only option is available, but you'll miss a full year of lab time and credential prep.
No Tuition
Lab fees are typically a few hundred dollars. Payment plans are available.
College Credit
Earn college credit toward a degree while you are still in high school.
Sterile processing figures are BLS May 2025 data for medical equipment preparers, the category that covers this work. Becoming a certified surgical technologist, who scrubs in during surgery, requires a training program after high school. Those roles pay a median of $64,650.
Credentials You Can Earn
Each of these is earned by passing the exam. We get you ready. The score is yours.
HSPA
Central Service Technician
- Decontamination and instrument cleaning
- Sterilization methods and monitoring
- Identifying surgical instruments
- Assembling and inspecting trays
- Tracking, storage, and distribution
NATIONAL HEALTHCAREER ASSOCIATION
Patient Care Technician
- Direct patient care and vital signs
- Safe transfers and positioning
- Infection control
- Medical terminology and anatomy
- A national certification employers know
OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Certified Nursing Assistant
- Direct patient care and daily living support
- Vital signs and measurements
- Safe lifting, transfers, and mobility
- Infection control and patient safety
- State-approved clinical hours and exam
You leave with two ways into a hospital: sterile processing, and patient care through your CNA. CRCST requires hands-on hours in addition to the exam, so some students finish that piece after graduation. Be clear on the ladder, though: this program does not make you a certified surgical technologist. That title takes a training program after high school. What it does is get you working in a hospital, in the department where surgery actually depends on you, while you work toward it.
Sterile Is Not Almost Clean.
Every instrument a surgeon picks up went through someone's hands first. Get one step wrong and a patient gets an infection. This work is exact, and that is exactly why it is worth learning.
- Sterile technique and maintaining a sterile field
- Identifying surgical instruments by name and use
- Decontamination, sterilization, and monitoring
- Assembling and inspecting instrument trays
- Anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology
- How an operating room is set up and run
- Patient care, vital signs, and safe transfers
- Infection control and why every step matters
In the labA mock operating room, sterilization equipment, and real instrument sets. You learn the setup, the sequence, and the instruments in the room they belong in.
Why WCCC
You see inside the OR
Almost nobody your age gets near an operating room. You'll learn how one is set up, what every instrument on the tray is for, and why the sequence never changes. If you are considering any surgical or medical career, that is a rare look at whether it is really for you.
Keep your home school
You're still part of your home high school. Graduate with your class, and keep playing sports, going to prom, and showing up for homecoming.
Steady demand
Sterile processing is one of the steadier ways into a hospital: surgery cannot happen without it, and BLS projects the field to grow about 10%. Surgical technologist roles pay a median of $64,650 and are growing 5%, with roughly 8,600 openings a year.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and employment projections.Where This Can Lead
This program is a head start, not the finish line. When you graduate, you'll have real options:
Start working
Sterile processing tech, CNA, or patient care tech in a hospital or surgery center
Keep training
A surgical technology program, which is what it takes to scrub in, or nursing school
Keep building
Certified surgical technologist, then specialty instrument work or first assistant roles
Take a Look Around
Applications open December 2.
See the lab before you apply.