How To Become A Medical Supply Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical supply technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Many people work in medical facilities, but not all of them are doctors or nurses. For example, a medical supply technician is one of those medical workers whose job has little to do with treating patients directly.

On the contrary, their area of jurisdiction covers managing medical tools and equipment. This includes sterilizing medical equipment. The technician ensures that all equipment undergoes sterile tests following the laid-down health standards. Of course, a medical supply technician will often need to keep records of inventories. This way, you can make sure that all instruments are always in stock.

Apart from attending and graduating with a degree in related fields like sterile processing technology, a medical supply technician must have unique skills. This includes critical thinking, attention to detail, and monitoring skills. You should also be good at making judgments and be ready to manage materials, troubleshoot, and solve problems. All of these skills will come in handy in this position someday.

What general advice would you give to a medical supply technician?

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Medical Assistant Program Director, Website

To maximize salary for a medical assistant obtaining certification from one of the credentialing organizations such as American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) can make a new hire more competitive. Continuing educations along with developing any specialized skills such as phlebotomy. Demonstrating professionalism initiative and reliability, along with gaining a strong reference from previous employers.

ScoreMedical Supply TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,049

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.53%

Asian 8.53%

Black or African American 11.67%

Hispanic or Latino 16.97%

Unknown 4.99%

White 56.31%

Gender

female 37.59%

male 62.41%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical supply technician

Explore medical supply technician education requirements

Most common medical supply technician degrees

Bachelor's

28.9 %

Associate

27.5 %

High School Diploma

21.1 %

Start to develop specific medical supply technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Sterile Processing	13.99%
Veterans	10.54%
Patients	9.86%
Surgical Instruments	8.60%
Sterilizers	8.34%

Complete relevant medical supply technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical supply technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical supply technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical supply technician resumes.

Gain additional medical supply technician certifications

Medical supply technician certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical supply technician certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical supply technicians include Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRSCT).

More About Certifications

Research medical supply technician duties and responsibilities

Cataloge property, maintain property records and manage inventory using PBUSE system.
Heat liable items are gas sterilize using ETO gas sterilizer and Sterrad sterilizer.
Perform biological testing for the steam and sterrad each day.
Maintain the sterilizers and conduct flash sterilization/IUSS whenever necessary.

Prepare your medical supply technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical supply technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical supply technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical supply technician resume templates

Build a professional medical supply technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical supply technician resume.