Hear From Kendria Stevens-Hulsinger, Senior Program Director of Surgical Technology, Pima Medical Institute
In this episode of Voices of Vital Care, host Nohelani Graf sits down with Kendria Stevens-Hulsinger, FAST, CST, senior program director of the Surgical Technology associate degree program at the Pima Medical Institute Chula Vista campus, to talk about the professionals working behind the scenes long before that first incision during a surgery.
Stevens-Hulsinger breaks down what a surgical technology career actually looks like day to day, why sterile processing is just as critical to patient safety as anything that happens in the operating room and why certification has become the standard hospitals expect from every member of the surgical team. In this episode she defines the role of surgical technologists and their importance without hesitation:
“I call surgical technologists the guardians of the OR, the guardians of the sterile field. We prepare the operating room, we ensure equipment and the instruments are available and everything’s functioning properly, we maintain sterile procedures. We’re anticipating surgeon needs, thereby being able to help have faster outcomes and turnarounds for cases. And we support the surgical team from the very beginning to the end of the case until the patient walks out of that room.”
-Kendria Stevens-Hulsinger, FAST, CST, senior program director of Surgical Technology, Pima Medical Institute
That anticipation is the thread running through everything Stevens-Hulsinger describes, from reviewing surgeon preference cards before a patient ever enters the room to counting every sponge, suture and clip throughout a case. It’s also why she gives sterile processing professionals equal credit for patient safety, since no instrument reaches the operating room until it has been cleaned, decontaminated, tested and sterilized by that team.
When asked how closely the operating room and sterile processing departments actually work together, her answer left no room for doubt:
“They’re inseparable. If I don’t have sterile processing, I don’t have instruments. If I don’t have instruments, I can’t do a case. The operating room places an enormous amount of trust in the work that sterile processing does for those professionals every single day.”
-Kendria Stevens-Hulsinger, FAST, CST, senior program director of Surgical Technology, Pima Medical Institute
That trust, built through accredited education, hands-on clinical experience and national certification, is exactly what Pima Medical Institute’s Surgical Technology program is designed to prepare graduates for. Pima Medical Institute also offers a dedicated Sterile Processing Technician certificate program for students who want to specialize in the sterilization side of the surgical process.
In this episode, you will learn:
- What a surgical technologist actually does before, during and after a case, and why anticipation is the most important skill in the room
- How sterile processing technicians clean, test, assemble and sterilize every instrument before it ever reaches the operating room
- Why completing an accredited program like Pima Medical’s Surgical Technology associate degree program matters to employers and patients alike
- The growing demand hospitals and outpatient surgery centers are seeing for surgical technologists and sterile processing professionals
- How robotics and advancing surgical technology are changing what today’s surgical technologists need to know
- The career paths available beyond the operating room, including education, leadership and healthcare administration
- What qualities separate good surgical technologists from great ones, drawn from Stevens-Hulsinger’s years of clinical and teaching experience
Who this episode is for:
This episode is for anyone considering a hands-on health care career, current students weighing surgical technology against other allied health paths, and anyone curious about what really happens before a patient enters the operating room.
Watch Episode 17: Hidden Heroes of Surgery | How Surgical Technologists Save Lives Before the OR
Beyond the episode:
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, surgical technologists earned a median annual wage of $64,650 in May 2025, and employment in the field is projected to grow 5 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, adding roughly 5,900 positions nationwide over that decade.*
