It is my personal opinion that all Histology techs working within a clinical setting today should be certified. Period. Histology requirements are no longer what they used to be as complexity of procedures used in the lab are increasingly becoming more demanding. I started out in 1961 straight out of high school, but since then, over time, have gotten my HT, BA in biology, HTL, and IHQ, all while continuing to work full time.
I think it was a terrible mistake to abandon the practical exam for the HT/HTL and rely solely on the written exam to judge the expertise of the candidate for ASCP certification. Automation probably played a crucial part in making the "hands-on" experience obsolete, but I think that practical experience was invaluable because it reinforced and illuminated what the written material was teaching. And while automation undoubtedly has many benefits, unfortunately, it can also promote "dumbing-down" as it requires little or no interaction with the user of the laboratory equipment. While I was getting my personalized OTJ training from a pathologist in a medical school's experimental setting, it was always understood that although we were working with animal tissue, the patient's welfare ultimately was the bottom line. This attitude not only inspired good laboratory practice, but also the desire to learn and to do the best possible job I could. To this day I find it immensely rewarding to perform special and IHC stains by hand and achieve the expected results. So many other professions demand a college education followed by, or in conjunction with, training in a particular skill, so why should our profession be any different? With an increased level of education and training will come a larger pay check and the well-deserved respect so frequently lacking now. Hermina Hermina M. Borgerink, BA, HT, HTL(ASCP)QIHC Wake Forest University Primate Center Department of Pathology Medical Center Blvd. Winston-Salem, NC 27157 Tel. (336) 716-1538 Fax. (336) 716-1515 e-mail: hborg...@wfubmc.edu -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Kim Tournear Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 9:53 AM To: Histonet Subject: RE: [Histonet] uncertified techs in Histology I agree with the overseas tech issue...my experience at Ventana Medical allowed me to meet alot of well educated techs from across the ocean. What difference does it make where the education comes from, as long as the candidate is qualified to do the job? I think an ASCP certification should be obtained allowing the applicant to use his/her credentials, and a state license (if applicable) without having to go back for a degree they already have. We knew long before 2005, that the histology world was going in new directions and that a histotech would be required to be certified. I fear that at some point, hospitals will not hire any non-registered techs (of any kind). Just my 2 cents worth.... ~Kim Tournear ~HT (ASCP), QIHC (ASCP) Histology Supervisor Tucson Medical Center Tucson, AZ ~Don't let your life end before it begins~ OU Rocks!!!! --- On Mon, 2/16/09, Bernice Frederick <b-freder...@northwestern.edu> wrote: From: Bernice Frederick <b-freder...@northwestern.edu> Subject: RE: [Histonet] uncertified techs in Histology To: "'Larry Woody'" <slappyc...@yahoo.com>, histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Date: Monday, February 16, 2009, 7:28 AM Agreed. Kind of devalues one's education if there are uncertified techs. I also think that it's silly that techs from outside the US are sometimes forced to repeat their 4 years of college when they have the knowledge and the equivalency from wherever and can do the job better than some techs doing it for years. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Northwestern University Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Larry Woody Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 10:10 AM To: rjbu...@yahoo.com; Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Steven Coakley Subject: Re: [Histonet] uncertified techs in Histology This has been an ongoing issue for so many years in histology, I've always wanted to see a mandatory license in the field but that always starts a firestorm of controversy. If you have surgery, you certainly want a board certified surgeon to do it and same with the Pathologist that looks at the slides so wouldn't you want a certified tech doing the lab work as well? Larry A. Woody Seattle, Wa. ________________________________ From: Rene J Buesa <rjbu...@yahoo.com> To: Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Steven Coakley <sjchta...@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 7:58:26 AM Subject: Re: [Histonet] uncertified techs in Histology A hospital that relies on uncertified techs to do histology work is motivated by the pursue of costs cuts (you can call it greed!) and shows total disregard for quality of work and patient care. They may end losing all those savings when settling a legal case. René J. --- On Wed, 2/11/09, Steven Coakley <sjchta...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Steven Coakley <sjchta...@yahoo.com> Subject: [Histonet] uncertified techs in Histology To: Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 9:55 AM Any thoughts or experiences with my fellow HT/HTL's(ASCP). What the big advantage do all these facilities think there gaining by going with unregistered techs, especially when theres always ongoing quality issues when theres so many trained certified HT looking for work? In my area of the country I can't believe how many Hospitals go this way. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet