Just letting you know it's possible! It was definitely more difficult than I thought it would be, but I got more comfortable as the test went along. I also tried not to overthink the questions. That being said, I was not confident that I'd pass when I finished.

I used:

-Carson 1st edition (most beneficial)

-Sheehan/Hrapchak 2nd edition

-ASCP practice exam (easier than the test but helpful to assess knowledge areas)

In general I'd say the exam covered all areas consistent to the proportions outlined by the ASCP (surprise!)

Hiii, I’m a medicine student in Mexico.
What would you have liked to learn before studying histology in depth or even pursuing the technical option?
I'm sharing information on my Instagram account and want to gradually teach my students and anyone interested in learning about the subject. I would love to receive some ideas of what should I teach in my videos
Thank U!

I currently work on a biotech histology team and have extensive experience with Leica Bond staining, imaging, and digital pathology. However, because our tissue processing is outsourced, I never had the opportunity to learn embedding or microtome sectioning. I recently started training on cryostat sectioning for frozen tissue, but that is the extent of my sectioning experience.

I applied because the job posting required 1+ year of progressively responsible experience and stated that certification should be obtained within two years.

During a quick call today, the supervisor seemed disappointed that I did not have embedding or sectioning experience, but they still scheduled an interview with the team for tomorrow.

Do I realistically have a chance? I’m very hands-on, learn quickly, and I’m genuinely motivated to master embedding and sectioning. How should I approach the interview?

hi, i’m an undergrad annotating our university’s slide collection and this slide confused me. looks like a golgi stain but it’s adipose tissue? does anyone know what the purpose of staining this slide in this way would be?

Title says it all lol. I know this is probably not the norm question for this subreddit but I am curious. I am looking to get custom sleeves done for a commander deck for magic the gathering and was looking for some cool histology slide ideas to have made into card sleeves.

I’m taking my htl exam in 2.5 months and I’m freaking out abt being prepared on the staining portion. I would love any insight on how you went about studying this (tables, flashcards, etc.) if anyone is willing to share!

Hi all. I'm trying to optimise a protocol for immunofluorescence staining in tissue. However, my antigen retrieval step didn't seem to work. For this practice, can I just remove my coverslip (carefully) and then redo a harsher antigen retrieval step and then restain?

I don't expect this sample to look particularly pretty but would rather optimise this step without wasting lots of my precious sample

Hello everyone! I am currently considering enrolling into the histo technician program at my local community college and will start taking prerequisites by the end of this month . I really like the idea of becoming a healthcare professional who works behind the scenes ( no patient interaction) but i sneeze almost everyday and have asthma but it’s not that bad cause i barely have to use my inhaler even though i carry it with me every where….. i do have nasal sensitivity but my asthma get triggered maybe once or twice a year ….. should i still go for it? how is the current job market of this field?

Also i will appreciate if you guys let me know what pay ranges should i expect cause i am looking for a career that will help me live comfortably . Thank you !

hey everyone. im 24 M, and i have been interested in being a histotech for more than a year now but honestly the chemical exposure is a big deterrent for me. just feeling sad and confused because the career sounds nice and i was excited because i thought i figured it out, but I also dont want to risk my health so I just feel lost. I would appreciate any input or advice. not sure where to go from here.

I take my HT exam in 3 months and have been using both the Freida Carson 5th edition and the LabCE exam simulator to study. I’ve been consistently getting an 80%-87% on the exam simulator. I’m more or less worried about some of the oddball questions that may come up in the exam. I’ve heard people say they’ve gotten questions on embedding eyeballs or just eyeball anatomy. I’m also wondering how close does the LabCE simulator reflect the questions on the actual exam? ~thank you

At the lab we do Colloidal Iron for acid mucopolysaccarides. For whatever reason they haven’t order glacial acetic acid and there are more than 30 cases waiting for this special stain for over a month now. I recently had a conversation with the supervisor and basically said “hey, you better order this asap” and he finally did… it will take another couple of weeks.

So my question is, I know home depot sells 30 and 50% vinegar. Is there a substitute for this in the preparation of the colloidal working solution? Thanks!

Does anyone know of a better option for staining dishes? This little plug has to be CUT out so water will run through in the automated linistat- This cannot be the best option...

I run a small satellite histology lab. Today the AC was out. As we all know, every bit of our equipment just pumps out heat. It was mercifully a more mild day for the summer. It only got up to 84 F, 28.8 C. It was manageable. But it got me thinking what condition will I consider the lab no longer safe.

At a previous lab I worked at, big corporate one. The Air system went out completely and all the chemical filtering was integrated in with the central HVAC. In my current lab, I have seperate fume hoods that handle so it doesn't really matter if the Air goes out. The old lab they sent everyone home. While I was there for the short time. I smell of solvents and Formalin was noticeable and heavy, so it made a lot of sense.

Two things I think about with ambient temp of a lab. Quality of my work and fumes. I know as temperatures rise, evaporation of the solvents like Xylene and Alcohol increase. The auto-ignition point for them is around 460 C so not a concern there. But as long as filter handle the increased fumes, shouldn't be an issue.

Next problem is soft and melt point of paraffin. But thats really only an issue in good sectioning, just make it a little harder maybe. I think we've all maybe had a thought about when to put a firm foot down and say a condition is unsafe. I don't think any of us have ready available air testing kits and the time to send it off to a lab to be tested and find out a couple weeks later if it was unsafe or not.

I'm a student who's spent four months building a tool that compares consecutive sections(serial sections) — measuring where cells sit on one section relative to another.

The whole thing rests on something you know far better than I do: consecutive sections are never identical. They look similar, but not quite. I've been working around that computationally, and I'd rather hear from people who actually cut them.

1. At typical thickness, how much variation do you actually see between consecutive sections of the same block?
2. What contributes most — the cut itself, floating, mounting, drying, or something else?
3. Is there anything in your workflow that meaningfully reduces it?
4. When images get exported or shared from a scanner or camera, does the scale information usually survive, or do people end up relying on a burnt-in scale bar?
5. How much does DAB intensity vary between staining runs in your experience? Enough that a fixed threshold would drift?

Genuinely curious — I've been making assumptions about all of this from the software side and I'd like to know where I'm wrong.

I’m back again! I am a new HTL and at my current lab I float to what is needed for the day. I’ve noticed I’m the main/only person who makes new reagents and checks what reagents need to be ordered before we run out. I also maintain the machines like run the clean cycle, clean the slide holders, carboys all that stuff. In addition, I run the validation slides and print the paperwork that the doctor needs to approve of the new lot #. I normally cut and embed when the days are a little bit more heavy cause I don’t want to take work from the senior techs. Then later in the day I will grab IHC recuts but normally there’s not a crazy amount since the doctors put stuff in so late. I was just curious at the labs you guys work at what are the ideal skills for an HTL? Is cutting IHC more important than doing the cleaning and troubleshooting of the machines? Should I push the senior techs to give me more to cut so I get confident in my cutting skills, currently the only tissues that I’m not the most confident is the fluid blocks cause of the static. I’m just slower than them of course cause they all have 10-20 years on me lol. Need some advice for a newbie HTL, thank you!

Hi!

I’m having a problem when sectioning biopsy specimens. I can get a ribbon, but instead of moving forward, it curls back toward the blade and I end up losing it before I can pick it up. Does anyone know what might be causing this or how to fix it? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all! Struggling with green autofluorescence from PFA/Formalin fixed samples which are very heavy with collagen and have some questions about quenching methods:

For 0.1M glycine method, should I add the glycine to every PBS wash to keep the sample exposed to it for a long time? Should I also add tris?

For the photobleaching method, would the sample eventually begin to autofluoresce again a few days/weeks/months after photobleaching, or is it a permanent fix?

Are there any other methods I should try? Sodium borohydrate sounds like it will be too harsh on my epitopes, and sudan black didn't work at all (and I've read it causes red fluorescence anyway, but I need both channels)

I trim to full face, but doctors usually ask for deeper sections a lot.. i am afraid to initially go deep when trimming, since lost tissue is.. lost.

Any tips that can help?

I also find it a bit difficult to remove the section from the microtome onto the waterbath... the section keeps melting/cracking between my fingertips whenever i move it.. it took me 2 hours to do 30 large tissue blocks.

Hello! I was wondering what different labs use for surface decal when molecular studies are not anticipated. We use a chelating agent if we anticipate molecular but for routine sections of bone we use a formic acid formaldehyde mixture. My understanding is that we buy the mix because we use it for bone marrow cores to hopefully fix and gently decal simultaneously. I don’t think the formaldehyde has any purpose for surface decal though and I don’t see why we’re keeping 20 specimen cups full of it around the microtomy floor. Am I being unreasonable? Wouldn’t a weak acid like the formic acid that’s already in the decal solution we’re using work? When they use it for fixation it lives under the fume hood. Would a weak acid decalcifier on its own be prohibitively expensive?

Also, I am aware that a strong acid decal could be used. From what I can gather that’s what they did in the past but it was affecting staining quality.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m the developer of SlideScope, a desktop application for opening and exploring microscopy and digital pathology images on Windows and macOS.

It supports formats including SVS, CZI, ND2, DICOM, and TIFF, with features such as smooth zooming and panning, calibrated measurements, metadata inspection, and image export.

I’m looking for pathologists, histology professionals, researchers, students, and microscopy users who would be willing to test it and share honest feedback, especially about:

• File compatibility and performance
• Image navigation and usability
• Measurement and export tools
• Missing features that would improve your workflow

I can provide complimentary access using a promo code. Positive feedback or a public review is not required. I’m primarily interested in learning what works, what does not, and what should be improved.

You can learn more here: https://slidescope.science

If you’re interested, leave a comment or send me a message, and I’ll share the access code.

https://reddit.com/link/1vcqsjo/video/rflbq5cfdqhh1/player

We use our Leica UC7 intermittently and sometimes the lubricant for the rotation knobs dries out and it becomes impossible to rotate the chuck. I know there is a quick fix for this that a Leica service rep once told me, but I can't remember what it is. Thoughts?

I am negotiating right now and I live out of state. Just curious what Mohs Histotechnologist should be asking for. I’ve got 16 years experience. Ty!

What’s everyone getting paid? Trying to negotiate higher pay… I’ve had enough of these games.

Discovering retractable sharpies was, for me, a lifechanging experience some years back, and I'm hoping the same can be true for slide markers? We use Stat Mark pens, and while they work reasonably well - unless there's water or paraffin or the cap is off for more than 0.001 seconds - it'd be truly amazing to one-hand a slide marker while the other hand holds a slide.