OK.  I really wasn't expecting much of a response from my post, and  was 
really surprised by what I got.  I want to start by apologizing to all  that I 
have offended.  It surely wasn't my intent.  And while I have  thought of a lot 
of things to say in response to your many e-mails, I will try  to keep this 
within reason.  
First:  I like my job.  I feel very fortunate to have gotten into  a field 
that pays me well, keeps me interested and has a lot of potential for  growth.  
I take pride in the work that I do and I love learning new things  every day.  
I have recently gotten the opportunity to train on immunos and  I couldn't be 
more thrilled.
Second, and probably more to the point:  I was really trying to make a  
comment about the requirements for being a histotech, not a statement about the  
job itself.  The e-mail I was responding to had mentioned 4 years of  college as 
a pre-req, and I thought that was an excessive amount.  I  probably have a 
skewed point of view, having dropped out of college after only  one semester, 
but I think that there are many bright and talented people that  haven't gone to 
college that could still do wonderfully as histotechs.  If  you had 4 years 
of college as a requirement and add another 2 to learn the histo  stuff, you're 
looking at 6 years.  You could become a pathology assistant  in that amount 
of time and be earning a whole lot more when you were done and  still be 
working in a similar field.  That was my only real point.  I  understand that they 
want people to have more education and that's fine.  I  like the way that the 
ASCP also takes credit hours into consideration and is not  just looking for a 
degree.  But 4 years, in my opinion, is too much.   WAY too much.  I would 
hate to think how many very talented histotechs we  would not have now had the 
requirements been that stiff 20 years ago.
I guess my third point is more of a question.  I know how I got to be  a 
histotech.  I basically fell into it.  I knew someone who worked in  a lab and I 
started as a lab aid, heard about on the job training and went from  there.  I 
know a lot of people who started that way, or as phlebotomists or  something 
similar.  How many people got started in a similar way?  I  also know that most 
people get a totally blank look on their face when you tell  them that you 
work in histology.  I had certainly never heard of it  before.  How many of you 
had?  I can't see many people looking through  a course list and saying to 
themselves, "oh, histology, that would be perfect  for me", because most of them 
wouldn't know what the heck it was.  As far  as I know (and this is mostly a 
guess) there aren't any 2 year programs at tech  schools or anything like that. 
 Histology is kind of an anomaly that  way.  Taught in hospitals and clinics, 
but not schools.  Maybe the on  the job training wasn't such a bad thing.  At 
least it would get those  remaining empty spots full, until some more 
concrete method of teaching our  craft is set up.  Just another thought.  One that I 
hope won't get me  into any more trouble  : )
 
My apologies,
 
Megan
Grateful new histotech

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