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What is it like to be a histotechnologist?

I am thinking of getting a histotechnologist certificate after I graduate from college this May. I want to do this to do further research. Is it mostly a lab tech job where you run samples? Or do you do more research-based work?
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Emily’s Answer

If you have a strong interest in anatomy and pathology, histotechnology can be a great career path. A histotechnologist's job is very important. The skills they possess, and the attention to detail and quality they must have, results in a microscope slide that a pathologist (MD) uses to make patient diagnosis.


A histotechnologist may work in research or in healthcare. In either case, there is a certain amount of routine to the work of a histo tech. Each day you will likely receive new specimens, process them, make slides and stain them, but along the way you get to see some interesting disease states and can really dig into the scientific theory of the processes, if you'd like. The best histo techs are those who know why every step is done and what can go wrong, so that they know how to troubleshoot any problems that arise.


I've spent my career on the healthcare side, but here is a link to an example of where histology is used in healthcare. http://www.med.upenn.edu/gtp/morphology.shtml - At the University of Pennsylvania, they do some amazing research and use some cutting edge techniques along with tried and true histology.


Just some generalizations about the industry.... I don't know as much about the research side, but I'd say that the hours and schedule are one the 9-5 scale and it's a bit more laid back. On the healthcare side, shifts tend to be on the early side. This is so slides can be made and a doctor can look at them the same or next day because patient treatment decisions are made based on the diagnosis. The workload is usually very consistent day to day, which might not be the case with research.


You might already know but there are 2 histology certifications a person can get. You can read more about them here. Click on HT or HTL for more info once on the page. There are a few schools that train students in histology and help them get certified, but many histo techs start as lab assistants and do on the job training and self study to sit for the certification exams. Though not always necessary, being certified is gives you a huge advantage when getting a job.

Emily recommends the following next steps:

Visit a histology lab at a local hospital, commercial lab or doctors office
Check out the book "Histotechnology : A Self-Instructional Text" by Freida L. Carson
visit http://www.nsh.org/home to see if there are any histology resources around you.
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Arta’s Answer

Hi Christi! My first job out of college was as a Histotechnologist (in training). Histotechnicians and Histotechnologists do a wide range of things, but generally, they're processing patient samples into stained slides for pathologists to read and provide diagnoses. I believe that most histotechs work in hospital or laboratory settings - not strictly research environments. Emily provided a great overview above and I don't want to be repetitive, so I'll focus on answering your question about research and my personal experience in the field.

The pace of the day was based on how many staff members were in and how many samples were sent. We were the singular pathology laboratory for several dermatology offices in the area. Samples in fixative would be delivered at around 3 AM, someone would accession them, then the samples would move to the grossing station. At the grossing station, someone would measure the samples, record information about them, and section them appropriately into their labeled "cassettes". The samples were then placed in a processing machine (can also be done manually) that cycled between different concentrations of ethanols and xylene. Then the samples were embedded in paraffin and allowed to cool. The samples were cut into very small slices using a microtome and then attached to glass slides and fixed to the slide using heat. The histotechs administered different types of stains depending on physician requests and then ensure quality is controlled.

I've been a lab associate in an academic immunology lab and I've been a HTL in a dermatology lab. I was a HTL first, so I do think that having that experience with histology and my HTL certificate helped me enter the research field. I was able to put some of my histology skills and knowledge to use there, since I did some staining of human and animal samples. However, many of my coworkers in the lab did not have a histology background. Some had graduate degrees in pharmaceutical or other related sciences, some were recent college graduates with some volunteer research experience, and some had PhDs. Unless you think you would enjoy the process and career of histotechnology, I would recommend that you apply directly to research positions! Good luck :)
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