Well there's a question. It's about the "art" in Cellular Pathology, needing
to adapt the techniques if and when required. It's not just loading machines
and button pushing like certain other lab disciplines (oh oh that's me in
trouble again). There is great satisfaction in seeing a specimen through
from receipt to the end product.

On the issue of attracting new recruits, in the UK we only take BSc
graduates and offer them pathetic salaries, with a decreasing career
structure. In the health service the salaries are the same throughout the
country except in London where we get a little extra. This is nowhere near
enough to cover the higher cost of living. The government and others are
trying to make lower cost housing available for nurses, but seem to forget
there are others in the NHS who are also in need. 

Sorry for the rant.

John
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	HistoNet Server [SMTP:histonet@pathology.swmed.edu]
> Sent:	Thursday, July 19, 2001 6:02 AM
> To:	HistoNet Server
> Subject:	Daily Digest
> 
> - -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Machin UK [mailto:stevemachinuk@yahoo.co.uk]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 3:49 PM
> To: Histonet Histonet Histonet
> Subject: Why do I enjoy being an Histopathology Biomedical Scentist?
> 
> 
> I hope a few of you who read this are sufficiently enthusiastic about
> your job to reply.
> I have been asked to write a paragraph in promotional material
> selling a degree in Biomedical Sciences to prospective
> undergraduates.
> In the UK, a degree in this subject is the preferred entry point to
> our profession.
> The trouble is, graduates can find better paid jobs in other
> professions and so we find it difficult to attract new entrants.
> 
> Could I ask you to submit brief quotes, that I could use, describing
> the source of our job satisfaction?
> 
> For my part, I enjoy seeing the slides I have made knowing that I
> have done an exacting job well; I enjoy the craft skill aspect of the
> work. I also get satisfaction from knowing that the work I do counts
> for something; it really matters.
> 
> Best Wishes
> Steve Machin UK Children's Hospital Lab.
> Date: 18 Jul 2001 08:52:30 -0500
> From: "Dr. Allen A. Smith" <asmith@mail.barry.edu>
> Subject: Re: Why do I enjoy being an Histopathology Biomedical Scentist?
> 
> 
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: Morken, Tim <tim9@cdc.gov>
> To: 'Histonet' <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 8:13 AM
> Subject: RE: Why do I enjoy being an Histopathology Biomedical Scentist?
> 
> 
> > Steve,
> >
> > The best part of Histotechnology is that this is one area of the lab
> that
> > gets involved in every aspect of medical science (as well as other areas
> of
> > biology - agriculture, wildlife etc). We work with the patient/animal,
> do
> > dissections, process the samples, manually cut sections. We do stains
> that
> > range from hundred-year-old procedures to 1-day old technology. We are
> > expected to know about how to stain collagen as well as how to detect
> > specific enzymes, tumor markers or DNA in cells. We see results that are
> not
> > abstract numbers on a computer screen - but slides that are real tissues
> > that can be photographed and displayed. We get to work with interesting
> > equipment, like scalpels, microtomes, automatic stainers, digital
> cameras,
> > computer databases, electron microscopes, confocal microscopes, and on
> and
> > on. We work with a wide variety of people in many fields ranging from
> > infectious disease to cancer research. I can't think of another field of
> the
> > medical lab that covers such a broad reach.
> >
> > the only reason there is a shortage in this field is because no one in
> > colleges knows about it. that is our great failing as a profession, as
> far
> > as I can see!
> >
> > Tim Morken, BA, EMT(MSA), HTL(ASCP)
> > Infectious Disease Pathology Activity
> > Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
> > Ms-G32
> > 1600 Clifton Road
> > Atlanta, GA 30333
> > USA
> >
> > PH: 404-639-3964
> > FAX: 404-639-3043
> >
> > email: tim9@cdc.gov
> >
> >A second reason for the shortage is that it is (or seems) very difficult
> for
> a person with a B.S., or even an M.S., in biology to become a certified
> histotechnologist.  This is true even for someone whose senior project or
> master's thesis was in histology.
> 
> Allen A. Smith, Ph.D.
> School of Graduate Medical Sciences
>    Podiatric Medicine and Surgery
> Barry University
> Miami Shores, Florida
> 
> Date: 18 Jul 2001 19:33:14 -0500
> From: "Lee & Peggy Wenk" <lpwenk@mail.netquest.com>
> Subject: Re: Why do I enjoy being an Histopathology Biomedical Scentist?
> 
> In addition to many of the reasons already listed:
> 
> I like the hands-on aspect of Histotechnology, combined with the 
> science of the chemistry of the procedures interacting with the 
> biochemistry of the patient's tissue and the disease, intermixed with
> the art that is required to produce a high quality result.
> 
> There is some automation in the field, but we are still touching, feeling
> seeing the tissue - during grossing, embedding, sectioning and staining.
> 
> We are mixing chemicals, using the pH meter, weighing out 
> reagents, all to make a stain that will attach to a chemical
> component in the patient's tissue.
> 
> But we are using our knowledge of the biochemistry of the
> patient's tissue and the pathology of the disease process, to
> modify the procedure when the disease so dictates.
> 
> Yet we can be artistic at times, making the intensities of the
> blues and red equal, or changing the intensity of the 
> background stain so that the primary component will
> contrast more. 
> 
> For someone looking for a profession combining
> biology, chemistr