Histotechnology Program

Our mission is to provide quality education using distance-learning technology to prepare individuals for certification in Histotechnology and, as a result, meet the healthcare workforce needs required in histology labs nationwide.

Our motto is meeting you where you are, academically and geographically, and taking you where you want to go.

Histotechnology is a laboratory profession where individuals cut very thin slices of tissue, and apply chemicals, dyes, and antibodies to make the seemingly invisible world of cells and tissue visible under a microscope. The prepared slides are given to a pathologist and are used to diagnose disease and conduct research. Unlike body fluids, these tissue samples are irreplaceable and therefore require highly skilled histotechnologists to perform the laboratory procedures.

As a histotechnologist, your tasks will require patience, mechanical ability, and knowledge of biology, immunology, molecular biology, anatomy, and chemistry. You will work with delicate instruments, automated equipment, knives, chemicals, and glass slides. You must value precision and have good hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity.

The national shortage of trained histotechnologists has been at a critical level for a few decades and has recently worsened since the 2019 COVID pandemic. Retirement rates are increasing, testing volumes have increased and laboratories are having difficulty finding certified histotechnologists.

The Histotechnology Program is a distance education program offered through the Indiana University School of Medicine and functions as a cooperative effort between the school and the student’s qualifying histology laboratory. The curriculum balances technical knowledge and clinical competence gained in the histology laboratory setting.

The program provides the educational experiences necessary to enter a career as a histologic technician and earn certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s Board of Certification as either a histotechnician or a histotechnologist.

Since the program's inception in 1995, we are proud that over 1,180 students have finished the program. The program has provided training for students in 49 different states within the U.S., as well as from Canada, South Korea, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and Switzerland.

The Histotechnology Program prepares you for a career in:

• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Dermatopathology
• Public health facilities
• Industrial research
• Veterinary pathology
• Marine biology
• Forensic pathology

We offer three tracks toward degree and certification. We can determine which track is appropriate for you based on your previous academic history (if any) and access to a histology lab.