-----Original Message-----
From: Pam Marcum <pmarcum@polysciences.com>
To: Nocito, Joseph <joseph_nocito@srhc.iwhs.org>; 'Mary Bryhan'
<maryb@freeway.net>; Histonet <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>;
klarson@northernhealth.org <klarson@northernhealth.org>
Date: Monday, September 11, 2000 11:19 AM
Subject: RE: Board of registry


>Thanks, Joe.  I was OJT trained in research and did my HT without a real
>clinical background in the seventies.  I did have my BS in Biology and it
>helped immensely.  The need for more in-depth training is very real as
>histology and IHC change our field.
>Pam Marcum
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Nocito, Joseph [mailto:joseph_nocito@srhc.iwhs.org]
>Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 12:50 PM
>To: 'Mary Bryhan'; Histonet; klarson@northernhealth.org
>Subject: RE: Board of registry
>
>
>Mary,
>I understand what you are saying, but our filed has changed over the last
20
>years.  Look at the advances in Immunohistochemistry, in-situ
hybridization,
>and other technologies.  I myself went the OJT route for my HT, but it
>wasn't until I started taking some college classes that I realized how much
>I didn't know about my job.  After completing courses in
anatomy/physiology,
>inorganic/organic chemistry and microbology, I finally made sense out of
IHC
>theory.  I think the time is past due to have college requirements to take
>the HT. We will never get the due respect we are do in respect to positions
>and pay unless we up the basic requirments.
> In addition, look how many Histo labs are being operated by a MT.
>One of the reasons for me completing my degree was because I was getting
>tired of MTs running Histo labs without a clue to what we do.  As it is
now,
>I have my own section, but my supervisor is an MT and I have to fight for
>every little thing because to her, we asre less important that Micro,
>Chemistry or Hem.  This is my opinion and does not reflect the thinking
>of the current management.
>
>Joe Nocito, B.S., HT(ASCP)QIHC
>Histology Supervisor
>Christus Santa Rosa Hospitals
>San Antonio, Texas
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mary Bryhan [SMTP:maryb@freeway.net]
>> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 7:52 PM
>> To: Histonet; klarson@northernhealth.org
>> Subject: Board of registry
>>
>> Today our lab operations manager showed me a page that had been printed
>> off
>> the NSH website.  This page reported that beginning in 2004, the BOR will
>> not permit applicants with only a High School diploma to take the HT
exam.
>> There will be requirements similar to those currently required for the
HTL
>> exam.
>>
>> At the age of 14 I took a 3 week summer class for fun, which previewed
>> three
>> health careers, one each week.  As you can guess, I became interested in
>> histology.  Two years later when I was 16, I began my 2 year ASCP
>> accredited
>> HT training program.  Because of staffing shortages, I received my
>> received
>> my 1st job offer in histology before I even graduated.  I took my boards
>> as
>> soon as I was eligible, back when the board only offered the exam twice
>> per
>> year.  I passed on the first try and got a pay increase of a quarter,
>> which
>> put my wage at $4.25 / hour.
>>
>> During the last 21 years I have worked with a wide variety of people who
>> call themselves  histo techs.  I must say that the majority of techs I
>> have
>> worked with that were good at the meat and potatoes of regular histology
>> techniques were high school graduates.
>>
>> There is a current staffing shortage in histology; does it make sense to
>> further it by adding these restrictions?  Also, what will the added costs
>> be
>> to an already over burdened medical system as we have in the US?
>>
>> Mary Bryhan
>> Petoskey,  Michigan
>>
>
>