[Histonet] Histology schools; Techniques course suggestions

[MVaughan4 <@t> ucok.edu]

Dr. Amy Aulthouse directs a Histotechniques course at Ohio Northern 
University in Ada, Ohio. I think she teaches it occasionally and has a 
limited number of students participating. "BIOL 343 Histological 
Techniques - Principles and procedures used in the preparation of 
biological specimens for microscopic study. Students learn both routine 
stains (H&E) and special histochemical techniques."

We (University of Central Oklahoma) have a Microtechniques course where 
the students learn how to fix, section and stain paraffin sections. I also 
train one or two students a semester doing independent research using 
these techniques as well as IHC. I haven't yet taught the Microtech course 
because I am teaching most of the biomedical courses in the department. It 
sounds like I need to make a case for teaching the course next semester. 
The course is only capable of carrying 10 students, so it is comparable to 
other such classes. I don't think a lot of people realize there is a 
problem finding histotechs. 

I am currently in the process of updating the course material. I plan to 
include immunohistochemistry and metaphase spreads/chromosome staining 
into the curriculum. This discussion group is full of many professionals 
in the field, and I would welcome any suggestions as to what other kinds 
of techniques might be useful to train students so they would be 
competitive for a histologist position. 
Mel

Melville B. Vaughan, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, OK 73034