According to an article published in Cervical Trends Health, “Recently several senior veteran Cytotechnologist educators have expressed alarm over the sudden and unexpected closure or planned closure of a significant number of well-established cytotechnology training schools in the United States.”

Cytotechnologists are not only responsible for screening approximately 64 million Pap tests, Cytotechnologists also extend into other essential functions such as cytologic evaluations of other non-gynecologic organ systems, laboratory administration, and cytogenetic and molecular testing including the early detection of Cervical cancer.  Many patients do not realize how much we truly rely on the cytotechnology workforce to diagnose certain cancers.

Dr. Robert Marshall Austin, M.D., is a Professor of Pathology and the Director of Cytopathology at Magee-Womens Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh states  ”A modeling study of emerging cervical cancer screening issues and challenges in a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute cautions that the potential benefits could be neutralized, and even reversed, if screening were to substantially decrease . This would obviously be a great misfortune, given the promise of new primary prevention vaccine era. Schools of cytotechnology are a valuable resource in the ongoing efforts for cervical cancer screening and detection of nongynecologic cancers. Support of cytotechnology school infrastructure in the United States is important to ensure an adequate and appropriately-trained cytotechnology workforce”.

Some attribute the need for Cytotechnologists is due to the introduction of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine and HPV DNA Tests.  The United States is relying more and more on liquid-based cytology and location-guided/computer assisted screenings which no longer requires the work of a Cytotechnologist.  However, according to Dr. Austin,    “Only one HPV DNA test is FDA approved, and its approved indications are exclusively for adjunctive use along with cervical cytology. Remarkably, the current approved test has no internal adequacy standard to prevent erroneous negative reporting on sparsely cellular or even acellular samples. The reliance on testing from liquid-based cytology vials further suggests that it will be difficult for the manufacturer to too strongly discourage the use of cytology. According to the manufacturer, no clinical trials to seek FDA approval as a stand alone primary screening test are anticipated in the near future. Despite the inability of the manufacturer of the sole FDA-approved HPV DNA test to publicly advocate off-label, stand-alone HPV testing and the absence of acknowledged plans for early clinical trials, a few investigators are often cited in lay press articles predicting the imminent demise of the Pap test. Whether or not the manufacturer will be effective in muting these misleading communication messages regarding modern Pap testing remains to be seen”.

To read more about Dr. Austin’s article http://www.cervicalhealth.com/Spring2008/focus.php

A medical technologist who wants to start using politics carefully to get ahead would be wise to consider how success is measured by leaders in the organization for which he or she works. If a medical technologist knows what exactly the goals the organization looks to meet are, then that medical technologist can focus on those goals specifically. It also makes sense for a medical technologist to carefully consider the manager’s style. A medical technologist should think about whether the way that they work is fitting in with the manager’s style. A medical technologist can observe those who the manager praises and promotes, and once determining what skills and methods the manager prefers, a medical technologist can work to improve those skills within themselves.

The last important thing that a medical technologist can remember when becoming involved in office politics is never to make enemies. Be friendly and inclusive to everyone in the lab, don’t ever exclude other medical technologists. Work to find common interests to become closer to other medical technologists. Try to help other medical technologists to get ahead, because if you help others to do better, this will probably be recognized as a strength on your part. Working to build relationships within the lab will also help the whole laboratory because if the medical technologists understand each other better, the lab will most likely function more effectively.

Find a job as a medical technologist.

Source:

Glenn, Dave (October 6, 2008) Why Playing Office Politics is Essential. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. Page 7.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find a job as a medical technologist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find a job as a medical technologist.

Often, medical technologists associate politics with being manipulative in order to get ahead. Because of this belief, medical technologists sometimes want to stay as far away from politics as possible. But, this can lead to medical technologists being overlooked for advancement opportunities. It is best to have the best of both worlds as a medical technologist, which means being involved with politics while holding onto integrity.

One easy way to be involved in politics as a medical technologist is to help those in the lab with influence to accomplish their goals and the laboratories goals, so long as the goals are moral. This way, you will be recognized as valuable and will get more opportunities to advance because a person with influence in office politics sees you as valuable.

Office politics are all about learning how to influence people effectively and make advantageous relationships with those who can influence people to your benefit. There are ways that medical technologists can do this without being selfish.

Check back soon for part two of this blog.

Find a job as a medical technologist.

Source:

Glenn, Dave (October 6, 2008) Why Playing Office Politics is Essential. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. Page 7.

Managers of histotechnicians can also have group activities outside of the work place in order to allow histotechnicians to interact on a personal level and get to know each other better. If histotechnicians see each others’ families and feel like they know each other on a more personal level, this can help lower conflict.

If a manager sees that one histotechnician is often involved with conflicts, it is important to talk to that histotechnician promptly. The manager should discuss what motivates the histotechnician to start conflicts and make sure there is no underlying problem. If no problem that can be solved is found, the histotechnician should be told that the behavior will not be tolerated and made aware of the consequences.

Conflict should always be handled when it arises, never ignored. Conflict decreases the productivity of histotechnicians and could cause errors. Conflict can also cause a histotechnician to be unhappy at work, which might be seen by those interacting with the histotechnician. Even though histotechnicians don’t speak often with patients directly, they speak to those who do speak with patients, and unhappiness can be a chain reaction. So, whether conflict is a daily occurrence, or whether it happens only occasionally between histotechnicians, managers should be ready to resolve the conflict.

Find a job as a histotechnician.

Source:

Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.

Managers of histotechnicians will probably have a tough time predicting when these conflicts might happen, or between which histotechnicians they might happen. There can be negative personal feelings between two histotechnicians that might never actually rise to the level of conflict. Or, those negative feelings between histotechnicians might come to the surface with no warning that a manager could see.

It is important to recognize that things such as small spaces and a room temperature that is too warm or too cold can affect a histotechnician’s mood, and cause conflict where there wouldn’t have been any conflict normally.

Histotechnicians should be encouraged by managers to work out issues with each other if possible, before escalating the situation by bringing in a manager. Involving a manager can create resentment which will make the relationship even worse than it was before, so it is best for histotechnicians to work with each other if possible. However, there are situations where managers should get involved right away. These situations are those which could negatively affect patient care, or those that involve intentional inappropriate behavior.

Check back soon for part three of this blog.

Find a job as a histotechnician.

Source:

Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.

Controlling and minimizing conflict is easier for a histotechnician when the reasons why the problems come up in the first place are understood. Often, disagreements come up between two histotechnicians and are based upon personal feelings. Reasons that two histotechnicians might harbor negative feelings for each other might include differences in religion, politics, race, mannerisms, and personalities.

Disagreements about work related things are quite common also. Histotechnicians will argue about who is doing more work or who is taking more breaks. Sometimes a histotechnicians will blame an error on another histotechnician.

Conflict is much more likely between histotechnicians when there are misunderstandings. Communication is one of the most important things histotechnicians can work on to minimize conflict. It can be so easy for two histotechnicians to have an honest misunderstanding that leads to conflict.

Check back soon for part two of this blog.

Find a job as a histotechnician.

Source:

Koehler, Amanda (October 20, 2008) Controlling Conflict. Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. page 24-25.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find a job as a histotechnologist.

There are several steps that must be completed before a tissue sample can be stained. First, a histotechnologist must use fixatives to keep the tissue from degrading and to maintain the cell structures and their organelles. The most used fixative a histotechnologist uses for light microscopy is 10% neutral buffered formalin, which is formaldehyde in saline. For electron microscopy the most common fixative a histotechnologist uses is glutaraldehyde. These fixatives work by cross linking proteins in the cells.

Tissue must be supported in a hard matrix by a histotechnologist so that thin section can be cut out of it. The first step a histotechnologist must follow is to remove the water from the tissue. A histotechnologist does this by bathing the tissue in ethanol. Next, the alcohol must be removed using xylene. Then, paraffin wax is used to replace the xylene. However, paraffin wax isn’t hard enough to allow for the cutting of thin slices with electron microscopy, so resins are used in those cases.

Check back soon for part two of this blog.

Find a job as a histotechnologist.