Sterilization Support Program
Education for everyone in oral health care
CE credits will vary* | $1,800 | In-person & online | Limited capacity | Continuous intake
* This number is an estimate. Your regulatory body will issue the credits.
Commitment to excellence starts here. Participants will learn how to implement and maintain infection prevention and control (IPC) standards and succeed in ensuring compliance and safe patient care.
This course is open to the general public and is intended for those:
- Pursuing a career in health care.
- Training their oral health-care office in Alberta's standards.
- Working towards meeting their continuing education requirements.
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What you'll learn | Pricing and details | Faculty
What you will learn
The sterilization support program provides a consistent approach to applying quality and safety in reprocessing of medical devices. It focuses on reducing the potential of adverse events that can impact safe patient care and incidences of damage to medical devices and sterilization equipment.
Developed by leading experts with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), with institutional and clinically applied experience, this course upholds infection prevention protocol. Participants will discover how to meet and exceed these stringent standards, ensuring top-tier safety and care through:
- Infection prevention: How to apply fundamental infection prevention and control principles and practices to their daily work, ensuring a safe patient environment.
- Reprocessing skills: Proficiently handle the transportation, disassembly, cleaning, disinfection, assembly, function testing, packaging, and sterilization of medical devices in community health-care settings like oral health care and non-accredited medical clinics.
- Quality assurance: Perform quality assurance testing measures to guarantee that reprocessed medical devices are safe and reliable for patient use.
- Documentation: Understand the essential documentation for tracking and recording reprocessing activities, ensuring compliance and accountability.
- Equipment maintenance: Comprehend the requirements for routine and preventative maintenance of automated reprocessing equipment, including troubleshooting skills to keep equipment in optimal working condition.
Key benefits
- Enhanced safety: Uphold patient and staff safety by aligning with Alberta's infection, prevention and control standards.
- Distinguished practice: Stand out among peers by investing in a safe, high-quality service.
- Cost efficiency: Prolong the lifespan of medical devices and instruments, ultimately trimming operating expenses.
Outcomes
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Apply basic infection prevention and control principles and practices to everyday practice.
- Safely and effectively transport, disassemble, clean, disinfection, assembly, function testing, package and sterilization of medical devices in a community setting.
- Perform quality assurance testing measures to ensure medical devices are safe to use.
- Understand the minimum required documentation of reprocessing activities.
- Understand the requirements for routine and preventative maintenance of all automated reprocessing equipment including basic troubleshooting.
- Reducing their oral health-care office's exposure to risks.
Career path options
This course is ideal for those who want to pursue a career in health care. The skills learnt in this course can help participants find employment in health-care offices such as oral health, dentistry, medical or veterinary — where the average starting salary for this career is $21/hour, with room to grow.
Career paths include:
- Certified registered service technician (CRCST): By completing this course and gaining practical experience you can challenge the CRCST exam - the average annual salary for a CRCST is $57,000.
- Office manager: Typically the office manager in an oral health-care office is also the infection, prevention and control manager. Get a head start on your management trajectory by becoming the source of sterilization knowledge in your office.
Pricing and details
Start dates
This course has a continuous intake registration process, which means that students can purchase, register and complete the course at their earliest convenience.
Work conditions
Be aware sterilization assisting requires long hours of standing and walking, as participants should be able to comfortably lift/push/pull 25 lbs.
Final exam and practicum
The curriculum of this course is online with the final exam being in-person. The practicum portion is four days with two days at Kaye Edmonton Clinic and two days at a private practice. Hours could be during the daytime or in the evening, and dates will be arranged with the participant after they pass the final exam.
Refunds
Participants will not be eligible for a refund or withdrawal of the program once access to the online eClass curriculum has been granted. If a participant should choose to request a refund or to withdraw from the program, a 20% admissions fee will be deducted.
Online materials are accessible for one year.
View Available Dates and Pricing
Questions?
Contact us at dentce@ualberta.ca
Our leading faculty
Cody Dingreville
Infection prevention and control assessor
Dingreville, CMDRT, graduated from medical device reprocessing technology in 2004 and holds Canadian Standards Association certification as a certified medical device reprocessing technician (CMDRT).
With 19 years of medical device reprocessing technology experience, including over 10 years of progressive leadership, he has supported medical device reprocessing departments in tertiary, regional and rural facilities as well as dental offices.
Having completed over $60 million in medical device reprocessing department design and construction projects, Dingreville has become a leader in sterilization and now sits as a member of the Canadian Standards Association Certifying Exam Scheme Committee.
In more recent years he has been conducting community based medical clinic infection, prevention and control medical device reprocssing reviews, gained further experience in an infection prevention control role, and regularly presents and hosts multiple provincial medical device reprocssing conferences.
Leveraging his wealth of experience Dingreville led the development of this course.
Future dates
Are you looking for different course dates? The new course schedules will be available in August.
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