Histotechnologist 2 (H)

About the role

The Surgery department seeks a Histotechnologist 2 (H) to prepare tissues from surgical specimens for histology, electron microscopy, and immunohistochemistry. The role involves utilizing laboratory and hospital systems, performing tissue processing and sectioning, and maintaining quality control.

Responsibilities

• Prepares tissue specimens for microscopic examinations, including complex jobs involving immunohistochemistry for clinical patient diagnosis.
• Maintains and reviews quality control in assigned laboratory facilities; determines acceptability of testing results and instrument function.
• Maintains all equipment and orders reagents and materials.
• Keeps records of samples, including accessioning, paraffin block, and slide files.
• Follows specimen handling and processing procedures.
• Participates in the formulation and revision of departmental policies and procedures.
• Provides guidance and leadership to employees within the assigned section; makes recommendations for improvement of laboratory functions.
• Handles clinical and patient concerns confidentially with integrity and discretion.
• Identifies and resolves problems with equipment and specimen integrity.
• Examines slides under a microscope to ensure tissue preparation meets laboratory requirements.
• Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures.

Department Specific Functions

• Verifies identification of surgical and research specimens and evaluates specimen acceptability per standard operating procedure (SOP).
• Maintains records of samples, including LIS accessioning of clinical and research specimens, paraffin block, and slide files.
• Performs tissue gross examination of surgical biopsy and research specimens.
• Identifies glomeruli in fresh kidney specimens using a stereoscope and morphology of non-human research specimens.
• Documents gross description of biopsy specimens received.
• Determines appropriate fixation for specimen processing per SOP; ensures adequate fixation and selects processing schedules based on tissue size and type.
• Performs tissue embedding with appropriate orientation, paraffin microtomy, and OCT cryotomy for slide preparation.
• Performs microtomy to create paraffin scrolls for molecular studies per SOP.
• Prepares solutions and reagents for special stain procedures; performs manual and automated H&E stains on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and frozen tissue.
• Verifies and/or validates control tissue used in histochemical/special stains; performs all manual and automated histochemical/special stain procedures.
• Performs antibody serial dilutions and prepares solutions and reagents for IHC, Immunofluorescence (IF), and in-situ hybridization (ISH) procedures.
• Performs verification and validation of control tissues used in IHC and ISH procedures; conducts antibody optimization, validations, and lot-to-lot comparisons.
• Performs IHC and ISH procedures on the Leica BOND III and BOND MAX; performs manual IF procedures on frozen tissues.
• Reviews stained slides with a microscope and judges quality through control tissue comparison.
• Submits prepared slides with pertinent patient data to the pathologist for evaluation and sign-out.
• Uses professional judgment to accept or reject stain quality and repeats procedures as needed.
• Troubleshoots to identify problems affecting test performance and determines the cause of errors.
• Processes and embeds specimens for electron microscopy.
• Performs high-quality whole slide imaging using brightfield and fluorescence microscopy technique-based scanners.
• Meets Turn Around Time (TAT) for all assigned tests.
• Performs on-call duties in the assigned area/rotation, responding promptly to call-back situations.
• Participates in proficiency testing, instrument verification, and method comparisons as assigned.
• Meets deadlines for other projects/assignments.
• Orients and trains employees on laboratory techniques and operations as assigned; provides technical assistance as needed.
• Maintains inventory of disposable supplies and reagents.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree in a relevant field.
• Graduate of a NAACLS-accredited histotechnology program.
• Florida Clinical Laboratory Technologist license.
• American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Histotechnician (HT) or Histotechnologist (HTL) certification.
• Minimum 2 years of histology testing experience.
• Ability to perform troubleshooting and communicate with vendors.
• Ability to clearly communicate and coordinate with clients and pathologists.

Benefits

The University of Miami offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and tuition remission.

Schedule

Full-time.