Here are some thoughts on recruiters and their ads on the histonet.
I can understand Frieda's point, purely from an academic and technical view.
The histonet was designed and defined by it's creators as an exchange to
further our profession. I most certainly would not like to see vendors all
over the place however, I don't know if recruiting people is equivalent to
pitching products. Granted there is money to be made by these people but, a
good job for someone may be more valuable than anything for sale by a
vendor.
So I then asked myself some questions: Would allowing recruiters on the
histonet further our profession? Would it serve the needs of histonet
subscriber's? Does it add to our professionalism or detract from it? Is it
dishonest, misleading or offensive? What if any are the upsides and
downsides I may not have considered?
To answer the first question I decided yes. As we are a young(relatively
speaking)organized medical profession, having exposure by recruiters to the
wider world is positive for us. Everyone knows about the shortage of nurses
and probably more about other laboratory professionals, we deserve
recognition also. To answer the second I also decided yes. Not only are
people looking for good jobs, others are looking for good people. To answer
the third, I certainly believe it can add to our professionalism. It is of
course up to each of to act in such a way, but it certainly is a good
opportunity for histology people to demonstrate what a special group we are.
I don't see it as dishonest, misleading or offensive, if anyone came into
question on these issues I'm sure the bad news would spread like wild fire.
The last question is for you to ponder.
The last point I would like to make is this; I believe that in general we
have been an overworked, underpaid and in many cases unappreciated group of
highly skilled and specialized individuals. Many of us work with a great
deal of stress and a relatively high amount of risk. I also believe that
many histology budget considerations have been an afterthought, depending on
who's doing your funding. I'll get off my soapbox now, I just wanted to
consider this issue thoroughly. Thank you.

Thomas Jasper HT(ASCP) BAS
Histology Team Leader
SMDC Clinical Laboratory
Duluth, MN
tjasper@smdc.org