And another MT heard from...
Not to date myself, but... when I went through the Med. Tech. program Histology WAS
on the curriculum.  We spent an 8 week rotation in Histology and there were 25-30
Histology questions on the National Registry (and they were damn hard too!).  My
experience, those many years ago, was that the Med. Techs. looked up to the
HistoTechs.  It was the HistoTech that worked side by side with the pathologist on a
day-to-day basis.  When ever we Med Techs wanted to find out what "upper management"
was up to, we would take the HistoTechs to coffee.  We could always get the skinny
from them.  If you feel that the Med Techs in your particular lab look down on
HistoTechs, then shame on them!  They know not what they do.

The disparity in salaries in my day was basically due to the difference in
educational requirements.  Med Techs needed a four year BSc (or similar) and the
Histotechs did not.  Today this is of course is not the case, and I for one feel
that salaries for both professions should be comparable.  But I also feel that this
movement towards a more equitable salary range needs to be spearheaded by HistoTechs
themselves... through NSH, our state societies, or simply by bugging the person who
controls the purse strings.  If nothing is said or done, then nothing will be said
or done.

~ Ford
----
Ford M. Royer, BSMT(ASCP)
Analytical Instruments, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN

cklein@mail.mdanderson.org wrote:

> I am a licensed Med Tech and just wanted to get my two cents in.  Not all  MT's
> feel this way about HT or HLT's.  While it is true that many people do not know
> anything about histology, those of us who do truly respect and are in awe of
> those who can perform the many different tasks of a histotech.  We do not make
> the pay scale so we are not to blame for the disparity in salaries.  Perhaps the
> salary difference comes from the same situation that allowed(and in many cases
> still does allow) men to make more than women--ignorance from the powers that be
> who run the whole kit and kaboodle.
>
> Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
>
> Christine Klein, BSMT(ASCP)
> MD Anderson Cancer Center