[Histonet] Salary / Temp positions

Thu Apr 10 16:38:55 CDT 2008

Elizabeth,
You have some good points too. Everyone has I think. But I can relate to the pain and suffering of working with a tech with no knowledge of medical terminology, chemistry, bio, you name it. I've had techs make up the 20% HCI for an iron stain using ammonium hydroxide and not knowing why it didn't work. I had one tech that just passed the HT ask me how to make up 70% alcohol from 100%(200 proof) stock. She didn't know what to dilute it with. I waited for the punch line because I thought there had to be one. I was wrong. OJT is how I learned 18 years ago. I took the exam half way through and passed but the studying and time that went into it was intense. I luckily did have some chemistry, biology and anatomy courses in college so that helped. I'm concerned that techs are not being trained correctly or thoroughly due to shortages and lack of time. This is a problem when you just sit people down to embed or cut that don't even know how the process starts. I always trained from the grossing stage, explaining what the processor does (some don't realize that xylene and water don't mix.) and then moved on to embedding. Not until the tech was able to properly orient the tissue all on one level consistently did we even think about microtomy. I can't tell you the times that I had to tell people to show respect for the microtome as you can be injured in the blink of an eye. I would tell them to treat every specimen as it were your own or that of a loved one. Rushing just to get done and possibly cutting through a cancer etc. is jeopardizing the patients diagnosis and life. It saddens me when I see techs do poorly but in some cases it was the trainers fault for rushing and not helping them to understand each step and why we do what we do. I felt so sorry for a girl that eventually got fired. She was an average tech but chunked out alot of blocks. She always was treated poorly when she did special stains and they didn't work. The fact is she didn't KNOW it didn't work. I asked why aren't you showing the techs what a positive control looks like and how to scope things etc,. and was told that there just isn't enough time. Long story short, I was OJT and that worked for me. Some of the best techs that I have worked with didn't have the HT. Some people need the college courses or program when some but not all labs are not training thoroughly. 

Sorry for the lengthy message but as most, I tend to get very passionate about this subject. 

Thanks for listening,

Jodi

-----Original Message-----
From: Elizabeth M Heimrich <elizabeth.heimrich <@t> bms.com>
To: Judy Collins <JCollins <@t> palmbeachpath.com>
Cc: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Sent: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 2:35 pm
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Salary / Temp positions

I took that course!!   It is a very informative independant learning 
exercise, but they have a set of prerequisites such as biology and 
chemistry.  Thenin lies the problem for a lot of OJT Histotechs.  They 
have the experience, but they don't have the college courses.  We have a 
problem, so now what do we do?!? 
Personally I think the techs should have the bio and chem background 
because a lot of techs who are not science savy have done some harmful 
mistakes.  For example, I have seen a lab aid dump unneutralized 
formalin waste down the drain.  Another tech thought it was OK to store 
acids and bases in the same cabinet, and even another person with no 
chem background made a batch of acid alcohol with 10% NBF!!  My slides 
that day looked like garbage!!   No wonder the safety cops have cracked 
down!!! 
Just my 2 cents, 

Beth 

Judy Collins wrote: 

>What about the nontraditional learning programs such as Indiana University's?  Our laboratory has helped 5 prospective techs through the past few years to become histotechnicians through their program.  The program is 10 months long at a very reasonable cost and the candidates are eligible to sit for the ASCP at the end of the program.  I believe there are some other similar programs as well. 

> 

>Judy Collins 

>Palm Beach Pathology 

> 

>-----Original Message----- 

>From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Cindy DuBois 

>Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 1:13 PM 

>To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 

>Subject: [Histonet] Salary / Temp positions 

> 

>If we think about the cost of 2-4 years of college to obtain a degree in 

>order to qualify for the Histology test, most of us would be in debt when 

>finished.  Then look at our salary and you can see how the requirements just 

>aren't supported by the salary.  Most of the students will come out of 

>college owing on student loans.  The salaries they would receive as new 

>histotech would allow them to pay off their student loanswhile maintaining a 

>decent living (at least here in CA). 

>With both my sons in college (using student loans) we had to take a serious 

>look at the final amount they will owe when the graduate and compare it to 

>what they would be earning. 

>I am not sure what the solution is.  Any ideas? 

> 

>Cindy 

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