Activities	According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the histotechnician prepares very thin sections of body tissues for microscopic examination by a pathologist.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	Based on a 2005 survey published in Laboratory Medicine, median salaries ranged from $44,970 to $49,360.
Work Context & Conditions	According to the ASCP, "histotechnicians have an unlimited choice of practice settings. Hospitals, for-profit laboratories, clinics, public health facilities, and industry currently have positions open for qualified histotechnicians."
Minimum Education Requirements	Bachelor's Degree Associate's Degree Academic High School Program
Skills	Monitoring, Instructing, Active Listening, Time Management, Equipment Maintenance, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Science
Abilities	Finger Dexterity, Visual Color Discrimination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Deductive Reasoning, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension, Near Vision, Information Ordering, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Healthcare Practitioners & Technical
Job Description		According to the National Society for Histotechnology (NSH), "histology is the science dealing with the structure of cells and their formation into tissues and organs. Histotechnology is a structural science concerned with the demonstration of cellular morphology, chemical composition, and function of normal and abnormal tissue. The histologic technician freezes, and cuts tissue, then mounts them on slides and stains them with special dyes to make them visible under the microscope. The tissue may be of human, animal, or plant origin. In the case of human tissue, frozen section technique can provide rapid surgical consultations to the Operating Room when a quick diagnosis or feedback relating to surgical margins would be advantageous to the surgeon. Sections from chemically processed tissues (which are denatured, not frozen), enable pathologists to identify signs of disease, illness or malignancies (cancer) as well as signs of normality or improvement. Histologic technicians (HTs) and histotechnologists (HTLs) are members of a laboratory team who employ histologic technology to diagnose diseases, to conduct research, or to instruct others in the science. Histotechnologists play a fundamental role in the allied health profession. A histotechnologist will prepare very thin slices of human, animal or plant tissue for microscopic examination. This is an important part of scientific investigation used in establishing and confirming patient diagnosis. These techniques make the invisible world of tissue structure visible under a microscope. The tasks performed by the histotechnologist require patience, mechanical ability, and knowledge of biology, immunology, molecular biology, anatomy and chemistry. It requires five basic steps, each an integral part of the histotechnologist’s job. ---Grossing and Fixation – Tissue specimens taken from routine surgical cases, autopsies, or other scientific investigations are examined, described and trimmed to proper size. This process is referred to as grossing the specimen. The resulting specimens are preserved in solutions designed to prevent decomposition. This is known as fixation. ---Processing – Water is removed from the tissue and replaced by melted paraffin wax. The wax infiltrates the tissue and provides the support when the tissue is being cut into thin slices to be examined under a microscope. ---Embedding – Before the wax permeated tissue can be cut it is placed in a larger wax block for additional holding support during sectioning. ---Sectioning – The tissue is mounted onto a delicate instrument called a microtome. An extremely sharp knife is used to cut sections of the tissue embedded in the wax block. These sections are cut one after another to form a ribbon, which is floated on warm water to soften and flatten tissue sections. These sections are then placed on microscopic slides and stored for future procedures. ---Staining – Staining causes tissue components to change colors when brought into contact with different chemicals. In addition to dyes, antibodies are reacted with tissues to identify specific tumor cell lines with a method called Immunohistochemistry. This technique is critical to guiding the patient’s physician in selecting the most effective tumor treatment. DNA probes are also applied to tissue sections to identify the presence of bacterial and viral infections and some tumors. When staining is completed, the tissue section is ready for examination under a microscope by a pathologist or other scientific investigator. Without specialized staining techniques, many tissue components would remain invisible." According to the ASCP, the histotechnician must work quickly and under pressure since the answers may be needed while the patient is in surgery. Working closely with the pathologist, the histotechnician freezes and cuts the tissues, mounts them on slides and stains them with special dyes to make the cell details visible under the microscope. Information from the section of tissue biopsy tells the pathologist and the surgeon if disease is present and if it has spread. The best course of treatment for the patient is then determined.
Working Conditions		According to the ASCP, histotechnicians have an unlimited choice of practice settings. Hospitals, for-profit laboratories, clinics, public health facilities, and industry currently have positions open for qualified histotechnicians. Other opportunities are in industrial research, veterinary pathology, marine biology and forensic pathology. The NSH says that most HTs and HTLs work forty hours a week. Since hospitals are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, HTs and HTLs may work nights or rotating shifts. They may work weekends and holidays and have days off in the middle of the week.
Salary Range		Based on a 2005 survey published in Laboratory Medicine, median salaries ranged from $44,970 to $49,360

Education Required		According to the ASCP, "to prepare for a career as a histotechnician, you should have a solid foundation in high school sciences — biology, chemistry, math and computer science. You’ll need clinical education in a histotechnician (HT) program accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) or an associate degree from a community college and training at a hospital. Preparing for a career as a histotechnician is a good investment in your future. Unlike many other careers, your education as a histotechnician will prepare you directly for a job. While you’re going to school, you may be able to work part-time in a laboratory to earn extra money. And you could start working full-time the day after you graduate.
Recommended High School Courses		Computers and Electronics, Biology, Mathematics, Chemistry
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Clerical
Certification and Licensing		According to the NSH, "certification as a histotechnician or a histotechnologist is governed by the Board of Registry through the ASCP. The BOR certifies individuals upon completion of academic prerequisites, clinical laboratory education or experience, and successful performance on an examination. The certification examination consists of a written examination for both the technician and technologist. After passing the examination, technicians may use the initials HT(ASCP) – which stand for histotechnician certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists –after their name. Histotechnologists may use the initials HTL(ASCP). Certification requirements: "Histotechnician (HT) – to be eligible for this examination category, an applicant must satisfy the requirements of a least one of the following qualification routes: 1. Successful completion of a National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) accredited Histotechnician Program. 2. Associate degree or at leat 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of academic credit from a regionally accredited college/university with combination of 12 semester hours (18 quarter hours) of biology and chemistry, and one year full time acceptable experience in histopathology within the last ten years under the supervision of a pathologist (certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology, or eligible), or an appropriately certified medical scientist. Histotechnologist (HTL) to be eligible for this examination category, an applicant must satisfy the requirements of at least one of the following qualification routes: 1. Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university with a combination of 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours) of biology and chemistry, and one year full time acceptable experience in a histopathology laboratory within the last ten years, under the supervision of a pathologist (certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology, or eligible) or an appropriately certified medical scientist. 2. Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university including the above course requirements, and successful completion of a NAACLS accredited Histology Technician or Histotechnology program."

Interest Area		Realistic Involves working on practical, hands-on problems and solutions, often with real-world materials, tools, and machinery.
Work Values		Moral Values Never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong. Security Have steady employment. Ability Utilization Make use of individual abilities. Activity Busy all the time.
Skills		Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Equipment Maintenance Perform routine maintenance and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Science Use scientific methods to solve problems.
Abilities		Finger Dexterity Able to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. Visual Color Discrimination The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness. Arm-Hand Steadiness Able to keep the hand and arm steady while making an arm movement or while holding the arm and hand in one position. Deductive Reasoning Able to apply general rules to specific problems to come up with logical answers, including deciding whether an answer makes sense. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Near Vision Able to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer). Information Ordering Able to correctly follow rules for arranging things or actions in a certain order, including numbers, words, pictures, procedures, and logical operations. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Related Jobs		Technologist, Medical and Clinical Laboratory, Technician or Technologist, Veterinary, Technician, Chemical
Job Outlook		According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, "job opportunities are expected to be excellent, because the number of job openings is expected to continue to exceed the number of job seekers. Employment of clinical laboratory workers is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations through the year 2018, as the volume of laboratory tests increases with both population growth and the development of new types of tests. Although hospitals are expected to continue to be the major employer of clinical laboratory workers, employment is expected to grow faster in medical and diagnostic laboratories, offices of physicians, and other ambulatory health care services. Although significant, job growth will not be the only source of opportunities. As in most occupations, many openings will result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations, retire, or stop working for some other reason."
More Information		National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences, American Society for Clinical Pathology, National Society for Histotechnology
References		O*NET Online: 29-2012.00 - Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians, http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-2012.00#menu American Medical Association's, Health Care Careers Directory, 2009-2010, Laboratory Science, Histotechnicians on the internet at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/40/ls09-histotechnologist.pdf American Society for Clinical Pathology at http://www.ascp.org/Careerlinks/LabCareers/default.aspx# Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos096.htm National Society for Histotechnology at http://www.nsh.org/organizations.php3?action=printContentItem&orgid=111&typeID=1158&itemID=14718 and http://www.nsh.org/organizations.php3?action=printContentTypeHome&orgid=111&typeID=1200