[Histonet] ASCP certification question

Sun Nov 16 20:25:02 CST 2008

Just a FYI - 

There are two routes to be eligible for sit for the HT exam through ASCP:
Route 1 which is completing a NAACLS accredited HT program, and Route 2
which is the on-the-job-training (OJT) route, which requires an associate
degree, 12 hours of chemistry and biology, and 1 full time experience. (See
link below)

If you go through a NAACLS accredited HT program, upon completion, you are
instantly eligible to sit for the HT certification exam through ASCP. 

On the other hand, if you earn an associate degree with the correct bio/chem
classes, get hired by a histology lab where you work full time for 1 year
doing fixation, processing, microtome and staining, then you can take the
ASCP HT exam via route 2 OJT. I don't know about the Phoenix program, but
possibly they are just trying to give people the associate degree with bio
and chem courses related to laboratories and histology, so that a histology
lab might look more favorably about hiring that person, so that they can
gain experience for the OJT route.

On the third hand, the Phoenix College website does say that Phoenix College
is applying for accreditation through NAACLS. I would suggest you check with
NAACLS, to see if the college has indeed applied. While clicking around, I
found an April 2005 website on Phoenix College that said the same thing. So
that indicates to me that the college has been "planning" on applying for
several years, so I wonder if and when they really are going to do it. So
call NAACLS at 773-714-8880 to find out where they are in the process.

The following is the link to the ASCP HT certification exam requirement:
http://www.ascp.org/FunctionalNavigation/certification/GetCertified/Technici
anCertification.aspx

To be eligible for this examination category, an applicant must satisfy the
requirements of at least one of the following routes:
Route 1: Successful completion of a NAACLS accredited Histotechnician
program within the last 5 years prior to the date of application for
examination; or
Route 2: Associate degree or at least 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours)
of academic credit from a regionally accredited college/university, with a
combination of 12 semester hours (18 quarter hours) of biology and
chemistry, AND one year full time acceptable experience in histopathology in
the U.S., Canada or a CAP/The Joint Commission (JCAHO)/AABB accredited
laboratory within the last ten years under the supervision of a pathologist
(certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology), or an
appropriately board certified medical scientist.

Laboratory Experience
To fulfill the experience requirement for the Histotechnician examination,
you must have experience, within the last ten years, in the following areas:
Fixation 
Microtomy 
Processing 
Staining  

Lee & Peggy Wenk
-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Cheryl
Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 4:47 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu; leahcox27 <@t> yahoo.com;
rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [Histonet] ASCP certification question

http://www.naacls.org/

http://www.naacls.org/accreditation/ht/links.asp

Hey Leah--

Programs are certified and certification is maintained by NAACLS.  If a
school doesn't apply and go through the process or is not recertified when
their renewal is due, they aren't accredited.  ASCP requires
accredited education.  It's like a lab and the CAP or JCAHO....it takes time
and a lot of effort and additional costs to be certified.

You can get the education and be well-qualified to do the work through other
programs, but why would you go through all that effort and expense if you
can't sit for the 'gold standard' of the ASCP exam??

The links above will help--give me a call if you need more!

Cheryl

Full Staff Inc.
Staffing Healthcare Professionals - one GREAT fit at a time.
800.756.3309

You do really want to work through an accredited program.  Several are
internet-based including the one out of Hartford CT and another out of
Indiana University.  

--- On Sat, 11/15/08, Rene J Buesa <rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Rene J Buesa <rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Histonet] ASCP certification question
To: "histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu" <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>,
leahcox27 <@t> yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 10:38 AM

Go to the NACCLS web site and there you will find all the certified
programs.
Sometimes a program exists but has not the certification for internal
reasons.
René J.

--- On Sat, 11/15/08, Leah Cox <leahcox27 <@t> yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Leah Cox <leahcox27 <@t> yahoo.com>
Subject: [Histonet] ASCP certification question
To: "histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu"
<histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 1:27 PM

How do we know what histology programs or schools can get us the ASCP?
Phoenix College has a program but it's not on the NSH list of schools. Is
there a reason for that?
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