Re: HT's doing PA work

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From:Tim Morken <timcdc@hotmail.com>
To:Leeryan2@aol.com, histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Reply-To:
Content-Type:text/plain; format=flowed

this person wrote:

"Let the docs try to hire a PA that is certified. They'll wish they would 
have taken care of their cheap labor.
I think that HT's that do PA work should organize for this reason.
Just my two bits."

How do you 'organize' a group that has no standing in any organization or 
job description outline? There is no certification as "HTL Who Does 
Grossing." As such, there is nothing to organize around.

The problem you face is that you have taken on work far beyond your original 
job description. You are lucky to be getting paid well for it; in some 
places you wouldn't get anything extra. You don't say whether your title or 
job description has been changed within your institution. It certainly has 
no formal equivilent in any certification scheme in the US (The closest 
route is on-the job training for PA certification).

In anatomic pathology the pathologist takes full responsibility and is free 
to have anyone do the work for them. NO formal training necessary in most 
circumstances (some states have licensing requirements, however). On-the-job 
trained people are the norm and that leads to all kinds of inconsistentcies 
in work done.

My advice to you is to get certified as a PA, then you can demand what you 
feel you deserve.


Tim Morken, B.A., EMT(MSA), HTL(ASCP)
Infectious Disease Pathology
Centers for Disease Control
MS-G32
1600 Clifton Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30333
USA

email: tim9@cdc.gov
       timcdc@hotmail.com

Phone: (404) 639-3964
FAX:  (404)639-3043




----Original Message Follows----
From: Leeryan2@aol.com
To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject: Fwd: HT's doing PA work
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 18:02:02 -0400 (EDT)



I have been a HT since 1984. For the last ten years I have been a PA. I 
gross in
biopsies to mastectomies. I work for a group that does approx. 45000 cases a 
yr.
I don't work in a big city but still make over $55,000 /yr.
Grossing should pay more. You are the eyes of the pathologist. You are
responsible for creating the mental image through your descriptions.
Gwen Goss at Cleveland Clinic has an excellent setup with her HT's that do
gross.
Let the docs try to hire a PA that is certified. They'll wish they would 
have
taken care of their cheap labor.
I think that HT's that do PA work should organize for this reason.
Just my two bits.

Lee




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