Histopathology

What does the Histopathology career field do?

Performs sub-professional duties at autopsies, prepares autopsy and surgical specimens, and supervises histopathology activities. Related DoD Occupational Subgroup: 131100.

Duties and responsibilities

• Prepares surgical, cytological, and autopsy specimens. Receives and prepares specimens for fixation, dehydration, and impregnation processes by either manually or automatically sending specimens through a series of formalin, alcohols, clearing agents, and paraffin. Embeds tissues and prepares paraffin blocks for cutting on rotary microtome. Attaches cut tissues on microscopic slides and clears paraffin wax from tissue. Obtains tissue slides by surgical, cytological, or autopsy number. Performs routine and special staining procedures on sectioned tissue. Submits finished tissue slides to the pathologists.
• Performs duties at autopsies. Serves as technical assistant at autopsies. Assists pathologist in opening abdominal, pleural, and cranial cavities; examining various organs; and procuring and handling specimens from these organs. Prepares remains for transfer to mortuary, to include cleaning and closing all incisions. Labels and stores autopsy specimens until pathologist makes final examination prior to fixing, processing, and staining.
• Maintains histopathology records and instruments. Maintains complete records of all surgical, cytological, and autopsy specimens, to include filing and storing of paraffin blocks and stained tissue slides by accession number. Prepares and ships blocks, slides and diagnostic reports to various military and civilian medical facilities. Maintains all surgical and autopsy instruments.
• Performs quality assurance. Evaluates current and new procedures for implementation and effectiveness. Monitors specimen handling, cutting, and staining quality; and equipment, reagent, and supply inventory. Assists in maintaining accreditation standards.

Specialty qualifications

Knowledge. Knowledge is mandatory of: methods of fixing, processing, embedding, cutting, and staining all types of tissue; properties of various biological stains and reagents; autopsy procedures; equipment maintenance; and medical terminology, ethics, and basic administration.

Education. For entry into this specialty, completion of high school or college courses in algebra, chemistry and biological sciences (e.g. anatomy and physiology, botany, general biology, microbiology, zoology, etc.) is mandatory.

Training. For award of 4T032, completion of a histopathology course is mandatory. Attendees of the course will challenge the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Histotechnician (HT) certification examination.

Experience. The following experience is mandatory for award of the AFSC indicated:

• 4T052. Qualification in and in possession of AFSC 4T032.
• 4T072. Qualification in and in possession of AFSC 4T052.
• 4T090. Qualification in and possession of either AFSC 4T071 or 4T072 is mandatory.
• Training. The following training is mandatory for award of the AFSC indicated:
• 4T052. No mandatory AETC training courses are required for upgrade, but members must maintain HT certification.
• 4T072. No mandatory AETC training courses are required for upgrade, but members must maintain HT certification.
• 4T090. No mandatory AETC training courses are required for upgrade, but members must maintain HT certification.

Other. The following are mandatory as indicated:

• For entry into this specialty
• Member will need to have: Passing color vision, as defined by getting a 55 or better on the Cone Contrast Test (CCT), or, correctly identifying at least 10 of 14 Ishihara Plates (PIP). (CCT should be primary testing choice, but PIP is acceptable if CCT is not available at testing site.)
• See attachment 4 for additional entry requirements.
• For award and retention of these AFSCs, must maintain local network access IAW AFI 17-130, Cybersecurity Program Management and AFMAN 17-1301, Computer Security.

Civilian career paths

Comparable civilian careers for this field pay roughly $54,180–$208,000 per year (median salaries; varies by role and location):

• Coroners: $71,100
• Histology Technicians: $54,180
• Histotechnologists: $54,180
• Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians: $54,180
• Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists: $54,180
• Physicians, Pathologists: $208,000