Hi Tom,

We are a small diagnostic and research histology laboratory at a large
medical Center, and cover all diagnostic and experimental necropsies
thatcome through the comparative medicine section, including non-human
primates as well as rodents.  The Histology lab itself consists of two
people, myself and another technician who is not certified and does no
immuno or special stains, but who  does and/or assists with necropsies
when necessary.  Then we have two more people who do all the
histomorphometry on all the immuno-stained slides on the experimental
cases that come through this section.  As for my responsabilities, I do
routine histology, special stains, immuno, and ISH when it is required.
I have trained many people over the years, both in routine histological
tasks, but also special techniques, including immunohistochemistry.
These people have ranged from high school graduates without a science
background to post docs and although I fully agree that letters behind a
name mean nothing if the person is not willing to learn, some type of
dgree is really helpfull to being able to understand the reason behind
many of the more advanced techniques.  In my experience it was much
easier to train the people that had higher education as opposed to those
who did not.  And I know of which I speak through my own personal
experience.

I started working in an Histology lab right after high school graduation
in 1962 and was lucky to start with a very dedicated researcher who
taught me everything herself.  She taught me the value of learning, of
being passionate about my work.  Integrity to the patient, because
ultimately even the research we were involved with would touch the lives
of people.   And so I have.  I became HT certified in 1978.  My IHQ in
1996.  I first received an Associate degree in Science in 1996, and then
a BA in Biology in 1999.  I was HTL certified last year.  Without the
desire to continue to learn I would not be where I am today. But I love
what I do, and that is and has been a great blessing and motivator.
So, to make a long story short, two techs, including one IHQ tech
(myself).

Hermina

--
Hermina M. Borgerink, BA, HTL(ASCP)HT, IHQ
Department of Pathology
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27157
PH (336) 716-1538
Fax (336) 716-1515