Histologist
What is a histologist?
A histologist is a technician who prepares tissue samples for a pathologist to study. They may also be referred to as a histology technician or histotechnician.
Histologists are specially trained to cut samples from organs or other tissue samples and stain them using dyes to aid microscopic tissue analysis. The tissue samples are then placed on a slide, which the pathologist or other technician will put under a microscope to analyze and identify whether an illness or disease is present.
A histologist may sometimes need to perform these preparative tasks quickly, such as when a piece of tissue is removed from a patient during surgery and needs to be immediately analyzed.
Histologists can work in hospitals, public health centers, universities, forensics labs, and pharmaceutical labs. They may also work with a medical device manufacturer to help design new equipment for the field.
How do histologists aid healthcare?
It is the job of the histologist to prepare tissue samples for analysis. They must be able to cut the samples correctly and use the right stain so that the pathologist can best detect disease. Knowing this, the role of the histologist is crucial for the efficient detection and monitoring of disease. With their work, diseases can be diagnosed, and treatment can begin.