Hi,
    I completely agree with the fact that some of the best histotechs I have
seen had no college education. However, I believe that each one of these people
has the potential to do well in college. They just didn't need to since
they had
a "comfy" job as it is. (Why overcomplicate ones life, right?) I also think
that
these people are very capable of taking and passing the HT exam before the
deadline of 2005.
    If you look around at some other laboratories you'll no doubt find that
most
of them expect a certification AND a bachelors degree, or at the very least an
associates. The histology lab is in some cases the slums of the
laboratories. We
have the lowest standards around. So I think raising our standards would
firstly
make the profession LOOK good and secondly in this age of consolidation of labs
it may make it possible for histotechs to be more crosstrainable, which
would no
doubt be a credit to laboratory administrators. This last part would by far
justify any raises they may (grudgingly) give.
Amos Brooks
ps: well said Tim

Mary Bryhan wrote:

> 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