[Histonet] RE: Training med techs - some candid comments

[Morken, Tim - Labvision]

M. Kirby wrote:
"Plus you operate under a fraction of the stress we [med techs] are
subjected to..."

This made me a laugh - M. Kirby has obviously never had to spend hours
cutting dozens of frozens sections as fast as possible while the patient is
on the table and the surgeons and pathologists breath heaviliy over his
shoulder in anticipation!

That aside, he does highlight one point - in the system he works in, South
Africa med techs went through histopath training during med tech training.
Much of the world does it this way. The US does not, and has not for several
decades. So he is advocating from a very different viewpoint than those of
us in the US. 

While he is correct that a paper-pusher is a paper-pusher no matter where
they push their paper, to be a really effective manager of a small
department, it is best to have extensive practical experience in that
department. I have seen some institutions handle this is different ways if a
suitable paper-pusher is not available among the histology staff - usually
it involves giving the paper to be pushed to a med tech  who has left the
bench and has been  highly trained in paper-pushing and leaving the
technical aspects of the job to the experts. 



Tim Morken