ASCP has recently published the results from their 2019 wage survey, the biannual evaluation of salaries for the laboratory professions. The report compares salaries for various job titles and certifications, including HTs and HTLs. While average hourly wages for those with HT certifications...
Lena was a good friend and mentor to me for many years. I met her over 30 years ago when she was the NSH Region 4 Director. At the first meeting I was a Histotechnologist for only 6 or 7 years and I wanted to be her friend and learn as much as I could from her. This was very odd for me since I...
No greater name stands alone in biology than that of Charles Robert Darwin. Born in Shrewsbury, England on 12th February 1809, he became renowned for his contributions to the science of evolution. It was in December of 1831 that he boarded the sailing vessel HMS Beagle for a five-year voyage to...
“What is glyoxal?” If you ask most histotechnologists, they will look at you blankly, unless, of course, they have recently been cramming for the HT or HTL registry examination. Even then, the response is typically something like, “Isn’t that one of those old fixatives that histology labs don’t...
As you know if you’ve read our previous post on regulatory agencies for the histology lab , OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are a division of the Department of Labor and they are responsible for making sure that your workplace is safe. They aren’t just concerned...
If you are planning on taking the HTL exam, you will need to be familiar with enzyme histochemistry. Enzyme histochemistry is used to visualize the activity of an enzyme through the use of chemical reactions. So, first of all, what is an enzyme? Enzymes are molecules produced by the body to help...
Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence are today becoming routine and a necessity for pathology laboratories, as new developments make these some of the best methods of disease diagnosis and treatment. The use of antibodies however, dates all the way back to 1890 with the first identified...
While patient care is still the primary goal of any histology lab, efficiency has increasingly become more and more important as well. The desire to produce accurate results with as little waste as possible, has led to the adoption by some labs, of a management approach known as Lean Production....
Histology labs have a pretty large environmental footprint, from the water we consume, to the waste we generate, to the energy it takes to power all of our equipment. Luckily, there are steps we can take to reduce our impact and make our labs a little greener. Water Use water...
If you work in a CAP accredited laboratory you must be able to demonstrate competency for any individuals who are involved in performing laboratory testing under the GEN.55500 guideline that states, the competency of each person performing patient testing to perform his/her assigned duties is...