Fixation on Histology

The 2019 NSH Symposium/Convention was once again host to one of the Convention Committee’s favorite days of the year - Career Day.  Our annual career day is designed to not only introduce histotechnology to local high school students but also give them an opportunity to have hands on lab experience.  The hands-on lab stations included grossing, processing & embedding, microtomy, staining & coverslipping and microscopic observation. 

Convention Coordinator, Twila Westbrook, spent the year researching & contacting New Orleans schools to invite them to our free program.  We were thrilled to have 50 students in our morning session from Archbishop Rummel High School and another 50 in our afternoon session from Kenner Discovery Health & Sciences Academy.  I asked Twila about the event – she gushed “These young, college bound students were so engaged and excited about the aspects of learning about the field of Histotechnology.  We had some that wanted more time in some areas that they enjoyed most like embedding, grossing and microscopic.  They were loaded with interesting questions about our work, and where this field could take them. They even had questions on how they could get started now!”  

The day always starts with a PPT presentation on histotechnology and its career possibilities, however this year Twila tasked the students with being a part of the presentation - asking them to read the slides and take turns presenting.  It was great to see the students engaged, enjoying the opportunity to shine and learn about a science that most had not heard of.  

This incredible event is not possible without the generosity of our vendors – who donate the equipment & supplies free of charge for our hands-on training stations.  Thank you Avantik, Biocare Medical, Epredia, Lecia Biosystems, Milestone, Motic, Millipore Sigma and Sakura Finetek.

Are you interested in presenting a career day?  NSH has resources to assist you – check them out here.