histopathology technician

The incumbent serves as a Histopathology Technician in Montana VA Health Care System, Ft. Harrison site responsible for coverage of all clinical disciplines of Histology and Cytology area of Anatomic pathology section. Required to cover shifts independently as assigned on our five days per week service.

This announcement is open until filled. We accept applications for this occupation on an ongoing basis; qualified applicants will be reviewed and referred to the selecting official on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month until a candidate is selected.

The incumbent responsible for the technical oversight of the Histology and Cytology area, consisting of sixteen instruments and all the policy and procedure updating, adherence to all current accreditation standards, all inventory and ordering duties, quality control oversight including troubleshooting issues with instruments and resolving problems as necessary, and new stain method development. In addition to the Histology and Cytology, this technician performs higher levels of responsibility for technical oversight, and is expected to carry out assigned tasks independently.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Technician performs histological techniques such as: fixation, embedding, cutting, and staining in order to prepare tissue slides for final diagnosis by the pathologists. The incumbent is responsible for maintaining specimen integrity and identification from initial accessioning through the entire specimen processing procedure. The incumbent performs a variety of extremely difficult, delicate and complex tissue handling procedure such as preparation of frozen sections for rapid diagnosis of tissue during surgery.
• Receives all requests and specimens for testing into the laboratory. Verifies the accuracy and completeness of the request and proper sample submission. Properly identifies all specimens. Verifies discrepancies with the provider. Accessions all specimens into the hospital computer system. The incumbent must be proficient in recognizing tissue from any part of the body and be able to identify the origin and type of tissue.
• Perform fixation techniques that are non-routine such as EM, Immunohistochemistry, muscle, and nerve studies, as well as bone decalcification. Understands the unique fixation requirements of each type and size of specimen, and whether or not the specimen must have special treatment before fixation.
• Must have an excellent understanding of anatomy, and the difference in each type of tissue, how they will respond to different processing protocols, and to determine the correct processing fit for each individual specimen.
• Due to the wide variety of specimens the lab can receive (from any part of the body) Knowledge of chemistry and the basic anatomy is essential to understanding the correct orientation of tissue in embedding so that imperative tissue is not lost during cutting. Understanding not only normal, but abnormal/diseased tissue is important. Pathology specimens are irretrievable, therefore trouble-shooting must be done prior to many steps performed.
• Incumbent must be able to operate and maintain a microtome, understanding how to perfect the angle, speed, and extra treatments that may be needed (decalcification, softening) and co1Tect temperature are required to produce acceptable sections. Verifying co1Tect embedding techniques, determining the proper manner for appropriate sectioning and thickness, and following the cutting protocol for each type of specimen and stain are essential. Manual and automated cover-slipping skills are also required.
• Performs staining of tissue sections including advanced staining techniques through automation and manual methods ( e.g. Papanicolauo, Romanowsky, GMS, PAS, Prussian Blue, VerhoeffVan Giesen elastic). These procedures are often complex, difficult, and non-standardized. Many choices of alternative ways of proceeding are determined through the incumbent' s professional training and experience. Procedures must be adapted to individual variance in specimen and stain performance. Appropriate fixation, embedding, and cutting techniques are evaluated to obtain the co1Tect specimen section for staining.
• Frozen section preparation includes orienting and freezing the unfixed specimen in appropriate medium and sectioning it with a cryostat microtome. Unique staining and cover-slipping techniques are used for frozen sections.
• Incumbent may assist pathologist with surgical gross description and processing. Gross description requires knowledge of anatomy of different tissues, as specimens may come from any part of the body. Understanding the difference between normal and abnormal presentation of these tissues is essential to describing notations of interest to the patient report.
• The incumbent will assist with bone marrow procedures at the patient bedside preparing slides and tubes for testing.