Following reading the comment below  from G. Dawson, I felt that I must
respond again, First of all, it doesn't matter how much one makes a year to
qualify to perform a test, further if your histotech's are @ $28,000 per
year they are grossly underpaid! Malpractice insurance is not even an issue
here. All tests on tissue must be verified by the Pathologist. The
Pathologist in all aspects of Pathology is the ultimate responsible person
on any results!  We who perform many complex tests and are very good at what
we do (IHC, FISH, sectioning frozen sections. etc) are asked for our
opinions by many Pathologists for our help with interpretation. An
additional example, is whether we have full margins on frozen sections (we
perform), it is our expertise and trust that the Pathologists rely on for
their diagnosis on patients every day!  Histology personnel with the
appropriate training and experience can be a great asset to any Pathologist
or Pathology group. Reading FISH is not a difficult task and would advise HT
and HTL'S who demonstrate the interest in this fascinating technology to
learn as much as you can. This is our future!  

I guess Vinnie got me going on a soap box here...

Michael LaFriniere PA, HT(ASCP)

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Weems, Joyce [mailto:JWEEMS@sjha.org]
		Sent:	Friday, December 14, 2001 5:22 AM
		To:	'Dawson, Glen '; 'Vinnie Della Speranza ';
'histonet@pathology.swmed.edu '
		Subject:	RE: CURIOUS - no reaction!

		I believe the issue would be - why is a cytotech more
qualified than an HTL?
		It is just accepted that histotechs read nothing, but it is
time to start
		changing that perception with all the quantitive testing
coming into common
		use. As with a cytotech, a pathologist would have the final
say. Perhaps
		that could be one of the things that separates a HT from an
HTL. 

		My 2 cents....

		Everyone have a great weekend! j 

		-----Original Message-----
		From: Dawson, Glen
		To: Vinnie Della Speranza; histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
		Sent: 12/13/2001 4:46 PM
		Subject: RE: CURIOUS - no reaction!

		Vinnie,

		I was unaware that a histotech would EVER read out results.
Having a
		histotech who makes $28,000 per year carrying no malpractice
insurance
		reading out FISH is NOT NOT NOT advisable.  Any institution
having
		histotechnicians reading out cases is asking for big
trouble.  In my
		lab,
		histotechs perform all the technical duties required to
produce the
		final
		product, but it is read out by a well-trained, well-paid
pathologist
		(who
		carries malpractice insurance).

		Shocked,

		Glen Dawson  BS, HT & IHC (ASCP)
		Lead IHC Technologist
		Milwaukee, WI

		-----Original Message-----
		From: Vinnie Della Speranza [mailto:dellav@musc.edu]
		Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 1:12 PM
		To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
		Subject: CURIOUS - no reaction!


		I have been watching this thread (Her 2neu/ FISH) over
thepast week with
		some interest, wondering if anyone else would react to this
but no one
		has.
		I hope that it is because everyone is distracted with other
things and
		NOT
		complacent.

		No one commented that at this one facility (quoted below)
the histotechs
		perform that method but are NOT asked to read the result.

		in an earlier post (source deleted to protect the innocent!)
someone
		wrote
		>>> 12/11/01 11:39AM
		Our histotechs perform the staining procedure for FISH, but
we have a
		cytotech that is trained to read them along with a
pathologist.>>>

		it is not typically a cytotech's scope of practice to read
out tissues.
		 Why aren't histotechs reading out these cases????

		comments?


		Vinnie Della Speranza
		Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services
		Medical University of South Carolina
		165 Ashley Avenue  Suite 309
		Charleston, SC 29425
		Ph: 843-792-6353
		fax: 843-792-8974