Career Profiles: Histotechnologist/Histotechnician

Cancer can often be detected by the appearance of cells in a tissue sample.  Once a sample tissue is taken from the patient, it's sent to the laboratory.  It's the job of the histotechnician (HT) to prepare very this sections of body tissues, mount them on slides and stain them with special dyes to make cell details visible by microscopic evalutaion by a pathologist.

A Histotechnologist (HTL) has advanced training in collection and processing of tissue samples.  This advanced training qualifies the histotechnologist to provide technical problem solving and evaluation of new laboratory techniques or procedures.

Educational Requirements

A histotechnician is an individual that has earned a high school diploma and completed an accredited histotechnician clinical program or has an associate degree and training in a hospital setting.  A histotechnologist is and individual that has earned a baccalaureated degree and has completed an accredited clinical training program.

Certification

Individuals that successfully complete the education requirements are eligible to be certified as a Histotechnician (HT) or Histotechnologist (HTL) with the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

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