Your comments remind me of a Hungarian histotech I met at the US National
meeting about 10 years ago. He said he came to the US and couldn't find any
histotechs and that "...in Hungary we are all very visible. In the US you
are all underground!"

Tim Morken
CDC, Atlanta

-----Original Message-----
From: David Grehan [mailto:david.grehan@olhsc.ie]
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 1:06 PM
To: Johnson, Theresa
Cc: Histonet (E-mail)
Subject: Re: Irish ''histotechs'' pay etc


Dear Theresa and  fellow histotechs
I am quite appalled to read you remarks about the status of histologists in
the
US. I am an Irish Medical Laboratory Technologist working in an histology
lab,
soon to be re-named Senior Medical Scientist ( agreed new title with our
Health
Department) .We( histologists) along with our colleagues in other laboratory
departments are one of the highest paid non medical  health professionals.
We do
a five year degree course in biomedical sciences which includes a one year
in
service training year before we can become registered with our professional
body
.A two year masters degree course is available for our graduates which is
required for senior posts. We are highly regarded by our medical and non
medical
colleagues alike for professionalism, training and motivation.
Our professional organisations The Academy of Medical Laboratory Scientists
and
the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association have worked extremely hard
over
the years to maintain our professional standing within the Irish Health
service
and have succeeded.
I am  proud of my profession .We have our problems as does every health
professional in Ireland , staff shortages , lack of resources etc. But I
think I
can say without fear of contradiction , we hold our fellow Medical
Scientists
with the highest respect.

"Johnson, Theresa" wrote:

> Very well put, Barry.  I agree with your suggested approach.  The more we
> know, the better off we are personally and professionally.
>
> Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I consider (many) histologists to be well
> compensated, considering their minimum educational level.  Few other
fields
> offer the salaries we make for a high school education (in addition to the
> OJT). I suspect it will be the job market, and not the increased
educational
> requirements, that eventually drive salaries up.
>
> We (histologists) tend to compare our salary range with nurses, cytotechs,
> and med techs based on the technical expertise of our work and where we
fit
> into the patient care arena, and complain about our coming up short.  Yes,
> what we do is no less important than what they do.  But here again, the
> market has driven their salaries up due to past and present critical
> staffing shortages.  Their educational requirements are also higher than
> what is currently required for histologists, so it's easier for
> administration to justify higher salaries.
>
> We all know that there are people who have degrees who are not necessarily
> better technologists.  So requiring this isn't going to "fix" our
> profession.  It will not give us the instant recognition and respect we
all
> crave.  And higher pay will not give us greater job satisfaction for the
> long term.  And it may even create staffing shortages, but I doubt it.
>
> Ironically, the group I've received the LEAST amount of respect from at
work
> were fellow histologists, the ones interested in producing marginally
> acceptable work and complaining about the pathologists who expected
better.
> If respect is what we want, then we have to earn it, not demand it.  We
need
> to walk the talk.
>
> Having said that, many excellent techs are burned out beyond the point of
no
> return.  Many can no longer function satisfactorally in their current
> working environment (for a variety of reasons).  Perhaps it's time to move
> on, whether it be a change of venue or change of career.  Ultimately YOU
are
> the only one who can judge what is best for YOU.  And we all need to
> respect, even if we don't agree with, their need to do so.
>
> Teri Johnson
>
> Note:  The views expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect nor
infer
> those of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.