So, how does one go about getting certified as a PA?

Renee Escalona, BS, HTL(ASCP)
Veterinary Laboratory Technologist
TX Vet. Med. Diag. Lab
College Station, TX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Morken" <timcdc@hotmail.com>
To: <Leeryan2@aol.com>; <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: HT's doing PA work


> 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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