Histotechnician
Program Highlights
- SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech offers the only accredited degree-granting Histotechnician program in the state of New York. The program is also the first of its kind in the entire United States.
- Hands-on experience during the required Clinical Rotation in an Affiliated Hospital
- Instruction by highly professional faculty members, including those with national certification in Histotechnology
- Use of a dedicated state-of-the-art Histotechnology lab
- 100% pass rate on national certification exam (2016 to 2019)
- Graduates are eligible for national certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and for New York State Licensure. ASCP certification is used to evaluate competency in the field; most states do not license laboratory practitioners. As of November 2009, 11 states and one territory license laboratory personnel. These include: California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico. The state of Georgia does not license laboratory personnel but does specify personnel requirements that are more stringent than those required by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). Certification is utilized by every state that licenses laboratory personnel to assess the initial competency of licensure candidates.
Degree Options
Associate in Applied Science (AAS)
- 61 Credit Hours (2 Years)
- Upon graduating, students have the option to begin their career or continue their education with a four-year program
- Graduates are immediately eligible for national certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and for New York State Licensure
- Read more details in the College Catalog >>
- Professional Licensure Information >>
Histotechnician Certificate
- 30 Credit Hours (1 Year)
- The certificate is designed for individuals with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and prerequisite courses to complete specialized coursework and clinical experience.
- Includes a 400-hour summer clinical rotation in an approved hospital, pharmaceutical, reference, or veterinarian histology lab.
- Graduates are eligible for national certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and for New York State Licensure.
- Learn More >>
- Professional Licensure Information >>
Histotechnology is a unique, specialized and highly important area within the medical laboratory sciences. Its focus is on the preservation of tissue and the preparation of microscopic slides for use by pathologists for patient diagnosis and treatment.
These tissues may be obtained from an operating room, clinic, doctor's office, emergency room or a postmortem examination. Histotechnicians may also prepare frozen tissue sections that enable rapid diagnosis while a patient is still undergoing surgery.
Cobleskill Ag & Tech's Histotechnician Associate in Applied Science program is a two-year, 61-credit curriculum that provides students with the academic and technical skills necessary for entry-level employment in the field of Histotechnology.
This program covers the major areas of histotechnology, including the grossing, fixation, processing, embedding, sectioning and staining of tissues. Specialized subject areas such as bone decalcification and immunohistochemistry are also discussed and are practiced in the laboratory.
Sample courses include:
- Biology
- Medical Orientation ETR
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Ethics in Science, Medicine & Technology
- Chemistry
- Microscopic Anatomy
- Microtechniques
Because there is currently a national shortage of trained Histotechnicians, excellent employment opportunities exist throughout the United States. Some of the job settings in which today's graduates find placements are:
- Hospital laboratories
- Private physician offices
- Medical or veterinary schools
- Pharmaceutical companies
As in many other professions, histotechnicians’ salaries increase as they attain certification, state Licensure, additional education and/or extensive experience. With these further credentials, our graduates’ career options often include:
- Histotechnologist
- Pathologist assistant (Master's level)
- Immunohistochemistry specialist
- Cytotechnology technician (Bachelor level)
- Molecular pathologist
- Forensic medicine technician
- Medical or veterinary school staff
Our affiliations include:
- Albany Medical Center (Albany, NY)
- Bassett Medical Center (Cooperstown, NY)
- Buffalo General Hospital (Buffalo, NY)
- Champlain Valley Medical Center (Plattsburgh, NY)
- Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
- Ellis Medicine (Schenectady, NY)
- Glens Falls Hospital (Glens Falls, NY)
- LabCorp Histopathology Laboratory (Syracuse, NY and Raritan, NJ)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)
- Montefiore NYACK (New York, NY)
- New York Presbyterian (Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, NY)
- NYU Langone Medical Center (New York, NY)
- Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (Binghamton, NY)
- St. Mary's Hospital (Amsterdam, NY)
- St. Peter's Hospital (Albany, NY)
- SUNY Upstate Medical Center (Syracuse, NY)
- University of Rochester Medical Center (Rochester, NY)
- Wilson Memorial Regional (Johnson City, NY)
Marissa Supp HT(ASCP)
Acting Program Director
518-255-5137
suppma@cobleskill.edu
Marissa Supp has a B.S. in Human Biology from SUNY Oneonta and an A.A.S. in Histotechnology from Cobleskill Ag & Tech, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She is a Nationally and New York State certified Histotechnician. She has spent most of her career working in clinical laboratories in New York and New Hampshire. She is a current member of the National Society of Histotechnology and the American Society for Clinical Pathology.