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The differences between histotechnicians and histologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a histotechnician, becoming a histologist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a histologist has an average salary of $59,183, which is higher than the $49,119 average annual salary of a histotechnician.
The top three skills for a histotechnician include ASCP, tissue specimens and CLIA. The most important skills for a histologist are ASCP, patient care, and immunohistochemistry.
| Histotechnician | Histologist | |
| Yearly salary | $49,119 | $59,183 |
| Hourly rate | $23.61 | $28.45 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 42,647 | 1,463 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
Histotechnicians are clinical laboratory technicians who prepare thin body tissue samples by pathologists. The majority of the technicians work in hospitals or libraries. Among the duties they perform include special stains, filling slides and blocks, send-outs, and re-cuts. They execute routine and complex non-routine special stains like tissue and specimen cutting and embedding. It is also their responsibility to execute routine maintenance and calibrations of microscopes, automated slide strainers, and microtomes.
Another name for a his/her tologist is his/her tology technician, or his/her totechnician. They are health care workers who work in a medical laboratory. They are trained specifically to prepare tissue samples for a pathologist to analyze. Their duties include cutting tissue samples from organs and other tissues and staining them with specific dyes to help with microscopic analysis of the sample tissues. They may either work with humans, animals, or plant specimens. Their analysis helps with the diagnosis of disease abnormalities.
Histotechnicians and histologists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Histotechnician | Histologist | |
| Average salary | $49,119 | $59,183 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $80,000 | Between $34,000 And $101,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | - |
| Best paying company | Stanford Health Care | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a histotechnician and a histologist in terms of educational background:
| Histotechnician | Histologist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Biology | Biology |
| Most common college | New York University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between histotechnicians' and histologists' demographics:
| Histotechnician | Histologist | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 27.5% Female, 72.5% | Male, 29.0% Female, 71.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 22.2% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |