Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should have contacted them directly and let them know. Sigh. I've had employees call that they were hired after the 2005 deadline, with the job description of high school graduate requirement, and were told they had 2 years to get the experience required, and then they had 1 additional year in which to take and pass the HT exam. And when they went to sign up to take the HT exam, they discovered that the HT exam requirements had dropped the high school route and now the on-the-job (OJT) requires the associate degree/60 credit hours with 12 credits of bio/chem, which of course they don't have. They tell me that their histology supervisor says they are going to fire them, because they can't take the ASCP HT Exam. I end up talking with the supervisor, and advise them to talk with their HR and Legal departments, as they are the ones who advertised the high school requirement, and they are the ones who hired this person without the needed education. And I suggest they help with person complete an on-line NAACLS HT program, several of which will take someone with the high school diploma, as long as they had a biology, a chemistry, and a math class in high school. NAACLS STUDENTS TAKING THE HT (OR HTL) ASCP EXAM: NAACLS is the accrediting agency for HT and HTL programs. (Think CAP, but for most lab training programs.) NAACLS has a long list of standards for programs to follow. (Think CAP checklist.) Standard 14 G has a statement The granting of the degree or certificate must not be contingent upon the student's passing any type of external certification or licensure examination. (Explanation: Not all HT programs end in an associate degree. The certificate refers to a certificate of completion of a program. My program, for example, is hospital-based. Some students already have their degree before they start my program. Some have all the college credits except for the ones they are earning while completing the internship, then they earn their degree from the college when they complete the internship and get the grade for those last credit hours. The hospital doesn't grant the degree, the college does. The hospital program grants a certificate of completion of the program, which is acceptable to NAACLS, ASCP, and employers.) As NAACLS accredited HT or HTL programs, we can encourage our students to take the HT/HTL exam upon completion of the program. We can do review sessions with them. We can remind them of the deadlines to sign up. We can help them sign up if they are having problems. We can let them know that labs in our area expect people to be certified. We can let them know that they can sign up while still in the program (couple of months before graduation), and they can, before they graduate, pick a date to take the exam after graduation. We can tell them that these dates to take the exams can be put on their resume, on the application, and that they can inform the supervisor during the interview that they are already signed up to take the HT/HTL exam. But we can NOT make the student take the exam. Completion of the program cannot be contingent upon taking or passing the HT/HTL exam (or getting state licensure). The program could lose NAACLS accreditation if we force the student to take the HT/HTL/state licensure exam, or withhold their degree or certificate until they do take/pass the HT/HTL exam/become state licensed. Thanks for listening. Peggy A. Wenk, HTL(ASCP)SLS Program Director, Schools of
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should have contacted them directly and let them know. Sigh. I've had employees call that they were hired after the 2005 deadline, with the job description of high school graduate requirement, and were told they had 2 years to get the experience required, and then they had 1 additional year in which to take and pass the HT exam. And when they went to sign up to take the HT exam, they discovered that the HT exam requirements had dropped the high school route and now the on-the-job (OJT) requires the associate degree/60 credit hours with 12 credits of bio/chem, which of course they don't have. They tell me that their histology supervisor says they are going to fire them, because they can't take the ASCP HT Exam. I end up talking with the supervisor, and advise them to talk with their HR and Legal departments, as they are the ones who advertised the high school requirement, and they are the ones who hired this person without the needed education. And I suggest they help with person complete an on-line NAACLS HT program, several of which will take someone with the high school diploma, as long as they had a biology, a chemistry, and a math class in high school. NAACLS STUDENTS TAKING THE HT (OR HTL) ASCP EXAM: NAACLS is the accrediting agency for HT and HTL programs. (Think CAP, but for most lab training programs.) NAACLS has a long list of standards for programs to follow. (Think CAP checklist.) Standard 14 G has a statement The granting of the degree or certificate must not be contingent upon the student's passing any type of external certification or licensure examination. (Explanation: Not all HT programs end in an associate degree. The certificate refers to a certificate of completion of a program. My program, for example, is hospital-based. Some students already have their degree
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should have contacted them directly and let them know. Sigh. I've had employees call that they were hired after the 2005 deadline, with the job description of high school graduate requirement, and were told they had 2 years to get the experience required, and then they had 1 additional year in which to take and pass the HT exam. And when they went to sign up to take the HT exam, they discovered that the HT exam requirements had dropped the high school route and now the on-the-job (OJT) requires the associate degree/60 credit hours with 12 credits of bio/chem, which of course they don't have. They tell me that their histology supervisor says they are going to fire them, because they can't take the ASCP HT Exam. I end up talking with the supervisor, and advise them to talk with their HR and Legal departments, as they are the ones who advertised the high school requirement, and they are the ones
Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
OJT is only available to HTL's via the route you described. Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2012, at 10:45 AM, Bernice Frederick b-freder...@northwestern.edu wrote: If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should have contacted them directly and let them know. Sigh. I've had employees call that they were hired after the 2005 deadline, with the job description of high school graduate requirement, and were told they had 2 years to get the experience required, and then they had 1 additional year in which to take and pass the HT exam. And when they went to sign up to take the HT exam, they discovered that the HT exam requirements had dropped the high school route and now the on-the-job (OJT) requires the associate degree/60 credit hours with 12 credits of bio/chem, which of course they don't have. They tell me that their histology supervisor says they are going to fire them, because
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
So why was OJT supposedly off the charts in 2005 (so to speak). Guess not. Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: William [mailto:cha...@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:50 AM To: Bernice Frederick Cc: joelle weaver; lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) OJT is only available to HTL's via the route you described. Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2012, at 10:45 AM, Bernice Frederick b-freder...@northwestern.edu wrote: If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should have contacted them directly and let them know. Sigh. I've had employees call that they were
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
Bernice I hire individuals with BS and train them in the lab and then they sit for the HT or HTL registry after one year of employment. I have done this consistently over the years. I have had probably about 8 or so individuals train with me and then pass the registry. Liz Elizabeth A. Chlipala, BS, HTL(ASCP)QIHC Premier Laboratory, LLC PO Box 18592 Boulder, CO 80308 (303) 682-3949 office (303) 881-0763 cell (303) 682-9060 fax l...@premierlab.com Ship to address: Premier Laboratory, LLC 1567 Skyway Drive, Unit E Longmont, CO 80504 From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Bernice Frederick [b-freder...@northwestern.edu] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 8:45 AM To: joelle weaver; lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from labs that want to hire one of my students, but their job description says high school diploma. I usually call these places up, and the histology supervisor had no idea the ASCP HT high school route was dropped. Someone should have told them. Even though it was in every NSH in Action for the 5 years previous (that's now over 12 years ago), in some ASCP publications each year for the 5 years previous, and on both the NSH and ASCP webpage for the 5 years previous, well, since they aren't NSH or ASCP members, well, someone still should
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
Bernice, I think you are confusing OJT with education requirements. The Education requirements changed, not the route of training. And the education requirements are simply for basic math and science, not specifically for Histotechnology. Since histotech schools are so rare the vast majority of histotechs are still trained on the job. We just hired a person this week who came into the lab several months ago as a temp lab assistant for basic non-histo work and had no clue about histotechnology. However she showed excellent trainability, has a B.S. degree and became very interested in the work we do. We hired her as a full time regular general lab tech (not a histotech) with the intention of training her in to histology. She will qualify to take the HTL in the next couple years. Tim Morken Supervisor, Electron Microscopy/Neuromuscular Special Studies Department of Pathology UC San Francisco Medical Center San Francisco, CA -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Bernice Frederick Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 7:52 AM To: William Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) So why was OJT supposedly off the charts in 2005 (so to speak). Guess not. Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: William [mailto:cha...@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:50 AM To: Bernice Frederick Cc: joelle weaver; lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) OJT is only available to HTL's via the route you described. Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2012, at 10:45 AM, Bernice Frederick b-freder...@northwestern.edu wrote: If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
I think that the original post was referring to people with a HSD or GED. I am not sure of the exact reasons considered in discontinuation of OJT route, but I recall some publications discussing the desire to raise the perception and awareness of the profession. The people with bachelors and the science credits needed can choose either the HT or HTL as I understand it, with the one year of verified experience/training. I think there is a route with a associate's and the required science credits available with the verified training for the HT. I believe there are now two routes for each exam if I recall correctly, one being the program graduate route plus experience , and one with education requirements met and training/experience. There is a page on the site that lays this out if anyone wants to clarify/correct my recollection. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC CC: joellewea...@hotmail.com; lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu From: cha...@yahoo.com Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 10:50:23 -0400 To: b-freder...@northwestern.edu OJT is only available to HTL's via the route you described. Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2012, at 10:45 AM, Bernice Frederick b-freder...@northwestern.edu wrote: If OJT is no longer a valid route, then why can someone with a BS in biology and a years experience in an accredited lab be allowed to take the exam? Most of the people falling into said category learn OTJ and at that learn the lab, not all the theory, so to me, OJT is still there since many of these people never went to histo school. Bernice Bernice Frederick HTL (ASCP) Senior Research Tech Pathology Core Facility ECOGPCO-RL Robert. H. Lurie Cancer Center Northwestern University 710 N Fairbanks Court Olson 8-421 Chicago,IL 60611 312-503-3723 b-freder...@northwestern.edu -Original Message- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of joelle weaver Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:26 AM To: lpw...@sbcglobal.net; tpodawi...@lrgh.org Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Peggy Thanks so much for posting this !! I see those job descriptions you speak of all the time. They actually contradict themselves within the description or job posting itself. Such as ask for HT/HTL certification OR 1 year acceptable experience, and then have education requirements of HSD or GED. There are a few people I guess that could be grandfathered, but wat is the certification and education they want/require? Many people I have encountered working in the lab truly don't know the certification eligibility requirements now and think that OJT is still open- even as you pointed out the 7 year time elapse. I stopped trying to correct people's misconception on this and just direct people to the BOC/BOR website for the routes. I have no idea if they ever actually do it, but I do my best to get people to the correct information. I agree supervisors or managers should be more informed on this and check before they advise people, but just my opinion. I do think it is misleading to hire people and allow them to think that this alone can lead to their certification at this point if they don't also pursue the education. I have seen MANY people who fell into this situation and then were unable to change jobs if they needed or wanted to. I think only people who have ever been involved with teaching seem to know about NAACLS. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC From: lpw...@sbcglobal.net To: joellewea...@hotmail.com; tpodawi...@lrgh.org CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:43:32 -0400 I'd like to wade into this discuss with a couple of comments: LABS WANTING ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND/OR NON-CERTIFIED HISTOTECHS: Yes, I'm still hearing about places like this. When I talk with the supervisors, it's because the lab wants the person doing the histotech job, but they only want to pay them at lab assistant wages. Plus, once they get the people trained as histotechs, the employees can't go elsewhere, because the other labs only want certified histotech, and these people can't get certified as they don't have the associate degree and minimum 12 hours of biology and chemistry combined as required to take the ASCP HT exam. So these people end up having to stay there. (Personally, I think is very unfair to the employees they hire.) LABS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE CHANGES IN HT REQUIREMENTS: Even though the High School route was dropped as of Jan 1, 2005 (over 7 years ago), I still get emails from
Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
On May 24, 2012, at 9:25 AM, joelle weaver wrote: I think that the original post was referring to people with a HSD or GED. I am not sure of the exact reasons considered in discontinuation of OJT route, but I recall some publications discussing the desire to raise the perception and awareness of the profession. The people with bachelors and the science credits needed can choose either the HT or HTL as I understand it, with the one year of verified experience/training. I think there is a route with a associate's and the required science credits available with the verified training for the HT. I believe there are now two routes for each exam if I recall correctly, one being the program graduate route plus experience , and one with education requirements met and training/experience. There is a page on the site that lays this out if anyone wants to clarify/correct my recollection. OK, so I have a question. We train students to do electron microscopy, both specimen prep and instrument operation. They fix and embed (in plastic) tissues and make thick sections (1 um or less for us) and examine them using LM. It is not much of a leap to add paraffin techniques and/or basic staining etc. We have most of the equipment that would be needed already, but I am not ready to go into a full blown HT curriculum. So, the question is, if a student gets an Associates degree that includes the basic science, would it help the student to get the basics of HT before looking for a job? Or could they take the test, get something to show for their work and make them a good job candidate? Our students are skilled and could do the job, but figuring out how to help them and give them the right advice is my problem now. Jon Jonathan Krupp Delta College 5151 Pacific Ave. Box 212 Stockton, CA 95207 209-954-5284 jkr...@deltacollege.edu Find us on Facebook @ Electron Microscopy at SJ Delta College ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
RE: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification)
Jon There is a route with associates and training I believe. Of course I can't speak for the BOC, and I am sure that you want to help your employees as much as you can. I do see your point about the similarities in tasks. My thought would be that the exam eligibility states that they have to have recent experience in fixation, embedding, microtomy, and staining (histology) and the associated theory knowledge. EM is on the exam study topics, but also with the theory/experience for all those routine histological techniques, is how I read it. Take a look at the exam outlines, that should give you an idea of the scope. Ascp.org get certified. As I have been told, they want to cover the widest possible scope of roles histologists can perform, which could include EM, but not only that. If they don't have exposure to regular histology I think that it might be hard for to feel prepared for the regular HT or HTL exams. That's just my opinion, based on what I have observed and also the pass rates ( ~ 65%), for people even with training/experience- there could be an exceptional person out there. I can understand not wanting to get buried in doing a whole HT curricula ( believe me, I do). How about the option of having cross training in a histology lab? Do you have routine histology on site or a nearby lab? The best advice I can give is to go to the website and carefully read the requirments to see how your employees might fit in. If you want to provide the theory without having to do the curricula, there are on line programs out there which can supplement OJT and a supportive mentor and organization. I have seen this work successfully with motivated people with the ability to have hands on practice alongside. I suggest the NSH site which lists the accredited programs or the NAACLS site which has a search for programs, if that would help. As far as employability, my opinion is that it would certainly open up options for your employees to also have skills in routine histology make them more valuable to your organization, and I would think certification would be even more helpful to them as far as options. Joelle Weaver MAOM, HTL (ASCP) QIHC Subject: Re: [Histonet] (no subject) (Not requiring HT Certification) From: jkr...@deltacollege.edu Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 09:53:21 -0700 CC: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu To: joellewea...@hotmail.com On May 24, 2012, at 9:25 AM, joelle weaver wrote: I think that the original post was referring to people with a HSD or GED. I am not sure of the exact reasons considered in discontinuation of OJT route, but I recall some publications discussing the desire to raise the perception and awareness of the profession. The people with bachelors and the science credits needed can choose either the HT or HTL as I understand it, with the one year of verified experience/training. I think there is a route with a associate's and the required science credits available with the verified training for the HT. I believe there are now two routes for each exam if I recall correctly, one being the program graduate route plus experience , and one with education requirements met and training/experience. There is a page on the site that lays this out if anyone wants to clarify/correct my recollection. OK, so I have a question. We train students to do electron microscopy, both specimen prep and instrument operation. They fix and embed (in plastic) tissues and make thick sections (1 um or less for us) and examine them using LM. It is not much of a leap to add paraffin techniques and/or basic staining etc. We have most of the equipment that would be needed already, but I am not ready to go into a full blown HT curriculum. So, the question is, if a student gets an Associates degree that includes the basic science, would it help the student to get the basics of HT before looking for a job? Or could they take the test, get something to show for their work and make them a good job candidate? Our students are skilled and could do the job, but figuring out how to help them and give them the right advice is my problem now. Jon Jonathan Krupp Delta College 5151 Pacific Ave. Box 212 Stockton, CA 95207 209-954-5284 jkr...@deltacollege.edu Find us on Facebook @ Electron Microscopy at SJ Delta College ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
