TISSUE ANALYSIS TECHNICIAN I

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT

Open Competitive Opportunity

 EXAM NUMBER
 Y4954L

 FILING DATES:

January 28, 2022 at 8:00 A.M., (PT)

ABOUT LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES:

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) is the second largest municipal health system in the nation.  DHS operates as an integrated health system, operating 26 health centers and four acute care hospitals, in addition to providing health care to youth in the juvenile justice system and inmates in the LA County jails.  Across the network of DHS' directly operated clinical sites and through partnerships with community-based clinics, DHS cares for about 600,000 unique patients each year, employs over 23,000 staff, and has an annual operating budget of 6.5 billion.  For additional information regarding DHS please visit www.dhs.lacounty.gov. 

Through academic affiliations with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC), and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciences (CDU), DHS hospitals are training sites for physicians completing their Graduate Medical Education in nearly every medical specialty and subspecialty.  In addition, to its direct clinical services, DHS also runs the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency and the County's 911 emergency response system, as well as Housing for Health and the Office of Diversion and Re-entry, each with a critical role in connecting vulnerable populations, including those released from correctional and institutional settings, to supportive housing.  

MISSION:
To advance the health of our patients and our communities by providing extraordinary care.

• Stains slides from paraffin and plastic embedded sections using routine, special or histochemical stains to demonstrate pathological features of the tissue. Inspects microtome, ultramicrotome, cryostat, and tissue processor for general maintenance and use.
• Prepares surgical specimens for fixation, dehydration and embedding in wax or plastic for sectioning.
• Assures that all required chemicals and solutions are properly prepared and in place for proper infiltration of tissue during processing. Inspects and positions block with specimen for best orientation, to enable the pathologist to make a diagnosis through the use of light and/or electron microscopy.
• Cuts with microtome or ultramicrotome instruments, paraffin and plastic sections for study and viewing by a pathologist using light and electron microscopes.
• Advises pathology residents and interns regarding limitations and thickness of surgical specimens to be processed for routine or special studies by light and/or electron microscopy.
• Prepares and sharpens microtome knives for paraffin sectioning or cuts glass knives for sectioning plastic blocks of surgical specimens.
• Prepares frozen sections from specimens submitted fresh to the laboratory for rapid histological diagnosis.
• Operates an electron microscope to inspect sections of selected tissue.  Prepares black and white photographic enlargements of surgical specimens from negatives produced by the electron microscope.
• Maintains darkroom supplies including preparing photographic chemicals.
• Gross examination of biopsy specimens to be submitted in its entirety.

REQUIREMENTS:

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS: 
OPTION I - One (1) year experience in the preparation of tissue specimens for morphological analysis under a light and electron microscope, including sectioning and staining with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) from paraffin or plastic blocks, in an approved laboratory* .
 
OPTION II - An Associate of Science Degree** or equivalent from an accredited college with specialization in histology or electron microscopy or in a related laboratory field and practical experience in the processing and staining of specimens for morphologic examination.

*An approved laboratory is defined as a clinical laboratory that has a federal issued Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment Laboratory Certificate of Accreditation that authorizes the laboratory to accept human specimens for the purpose of performing laboratory examinations, and is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) or Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

 **In order to receive credit for any college course work, or any type of college degree, such as an Associate's or Bachelor's degree, or for completion of a certificate program, you must include a legible copy of the official diploma, official transcripts, or official letter from the accredited institution which shows the area of specialization; or official certificates with your application at time of filing or within 15 calendar days of filing online.  Applications submitted without the required evidence of the official diploma, official transcripts, or official letter from the accredited institution which shows the area of specialization; or official certificates will be rejected.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATION(S):

Additional credit will be given to applicants who possess the following desirable qualifications:

• A Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree** in Laboratory Science or a related laboratory field from an accredited college or university.
• Histotechnician (HT) or Histotechnologist (HTL) certification from American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).***
• Experience in immunohistochemical staining and/or histochemical stains**** 
• Experience in specimen grossing.***** 

***The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) affirms that an individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to perform the essential task in the medical laboratory.  The ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) is the gold standard in global certification for medical laboratory professional.  Histotechnologists  and Histotechnicians certified by the ASCP, a separate certifying body within the organizational structure of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Inc.

*****The experience must include inspecting the specimens, describing and measuring the tissue, inking if needed, and sectioning the tissue to be processed for diagnosis. 

EXAMINATION CONTENT: 
This examination will consist of an evaluation of education and experience based upon application information, desirable qualifications, and supplemental questionnaire, weighted 100%.

Candidates must achieve a passing score of 70% or higher on this examination in order to be added to the eligible register for this examination.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:
Applications will be processed on an "as-received" basis and those receiving a passing score will be promulgated to the eligible register accordingly. 

No person may compete in this examination more than once every twelve (12) months.

VACANCY INFORMATION: 
The eligible register resulting from this examination will be used to fill vacancies throughout the Department of Health Services as they occur.

AVAILABLE SHIFT: 
Appointees may be required to work any shift, including evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION: 

Applications must be filed online only. Applications submitted by U.S. mail, Fax, or in person will not be accepted.

You may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on www.governmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty, you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.

All information is subject to verification. We may reject your application at any time during the examination and hiring process, including after appointment has been made. Falsification of any information may result in disqualification or rescission of appointment.
 
Utilizing VERBIAGE from the Class Specification and Selection Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. Doing so may result in an INCOMPLETE APPLICATION and you may be DISQUALIFIED.
 
This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met.  Application filing may be suspended at any time with or without advance notice. 

Fill out your application completely. The acceptance of your application depends on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the requirements. Provide any relevant education, training, and experience in the spaces provided so we can evaluate your qualifications for the job. For each job held, give the name and address of your employer, your job title, beginning and ending dates, number of hours worked per week and description of work performed. If your application is incomplete, it will be rejected. 

Applications electronically received after 4:59p.m., PT, on the last of filing will not be accepted.

NOTE:  If you are unable to attach required documents to your application, you may email the documents to the exam analyst, Jaquelyne Saldana at jsaldana@dhs.lacounty.gov within 15 calendar days of filing online.  Please include your name, the exam number and the exam title.

For the foreseeable future, all notices including invitation letters, result letters and notices of non-acceptance will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application. It is important that applicants provide a valid email address.  Please add jsaldana@dhs.lacounty.gov, noreply@governmentjobs.com and info@governmentjobs.com to your email address book and to the list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as SPAM/JUNK mail.   Please note, if you opt out of receiving emails, you can visit governmentjobs.com, log into your profile and check your inbox.  The inbox retains a copy of all emails sent, for your records.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT PUBLIC LIBRARIES:
For Candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.

LA County Public Library has announced they are reopening some libraries with limited hours access throughout LA County. Refer to their website at https://lacountylibrary.org/reopening/ for more information.

NO SHARING OF USER ID AND PASSWORD: 
All applicants must file their application online using their own user ID and password.  Using a family member's or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.

FAIR CHANCE INITIATIVE:
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment. The County will make an individual assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.

ADA COORDINATOR PHONE: (323) 914-7111

TELETYPE PHONE: (800) 899-4099
CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICES PHONE: (800) 735-2922
 

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:

Jaquelyne Saldana
jsaldana@dhs.lacounty.gov (best contact due to telework)

Salary : $60,764 - $81,880