histotechnician/histotechnologist

histotechnician/histotechnologist [his″to-tek-nish´an his″to-tek-nol´ŏ-jist]

HT/HTL; a clinical laboratory technician specializing in the preparation of body tissue specimens for fixation, dehydration, embedding, sectioning, decalcification, microincineration, and routine and special staining. The histotechnologist performs all the functions of the histotechnician as well as identifying tissue structures, cell components, and their staining characteristics. Histotechnologists may serve as supervisors or educators. Academic programs are accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Certification is through the Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, whose address is P.O. Box 12270, Chicago, IL 60612 (telephone 312-738-1336). The address of the National Society for Histotechnology is 4201 Northview Drive, Suite 502, Bowie, MD 20716-1073 (telephone 301-262-6221).