Standards
Pathology Technician Series, 0646
Associated Group Standard
Use the Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Technical and Medical Support Positions for this series in conjunction with the Individual Occupational Requirements described below.
Individual Occupational Requirements
Specialized Experience
(for positions at GS-4 and above): Anatomical pathology technician work in (a) cutting and staining very thin sections of human tissue specimens for microscopic examination; and/or in (b) testing and examining body fluids, etc. for abnormalities in cell structure, depending upon the requirements of the position to be filled.
OR
Education and Training:
For GS-3:
Successful completion of (a) a full-time training course of approximately a year's duration in a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) school that included instruction in chemistry, hematology, blood banking, and microbiology (including serology) and that, in addition, included supervised laboratory practice incident to the diagnostic process and the treatment of patients; or (b) 1 year of study that included at least 6 semester hours in chemistry and/or biological science.
For GS-4:
Successful completion of (a) an associate-degree course of study of which the 2nd year of the 2-year program included successful completion of a training course of approximately a year's duration in a certified laboratory assistant school approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency; (b) 1 year of study that included 6 semester hours in chemistry and/or the biological sciences, plus successful completion of the training course as described in (a) above for GS-3; or (c) 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours of chemistry and/or biological science course work that must have been directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled.
For GS-5:
(a) Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects appropriate to the position to be filled; or (b) successful completion of 2 academic years of study that included at least 24 semester hours in chemistry and/or in appropriate fields of biological science and successful completion of a 12-month program of education, training, and supervised experience in cytotechnology or histopathology that has been approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
