Hello!
This site was built to share my journey in histotechnology. Here you will find my portfolio of stains, as well as blog posts discussing my career transition to the world of histology and what I've learned along the way.
It is also where I share my experience studying for the HT exam. There are so many resources out there, but I am here to simplify it.
There is a lot to digest and memorize when studying, so much so that I found myself forgetting something I had forced myself to remember just a few days ago. You cannot escape the rote memorization. What can help, however, is coming up with your own tricks to get the information to stick.
So what I've included here are the little tricks and memory aids I've come up with to easily remember fixatives, stains, etc. They have helped me immensely in studying, and even made studying a bit more fun. I've also included a discussion of how I studied for the exam--what I used to review, my study process and schedule, and what I focused on.
You won't find notes or lectures or reviews here. There are several sources out there that do a good job of providing those already. I personally found the Leica Knowledge Pathway and NSH's blog posts (on Alcian blue and silver stains) to be very helpful in giving simple, beginner-friendly explanations.
About
My name is Steph, and in August 2026 I passed the HT exam via Route 1 (enrolling in a NAACLS-accredited histotechnology program). I worked as a marketing writer/editor for 12 years and am a former English Lit major--so I had ZERO background in science or healthcare before this, but am proof that transitioning to a completely unrelated field of study is doable! It is very challenging, but also very doable.
My next goal is to sit for the HTL, and I will include study tips for that once I begin preparing for it. This site is a work in progress. I will continue to add more tips and discussions as I go!
All images are my own. They are tissue I have cut and stained myself.
Logo: heart tissue, H&E
Histology is skin-tillating!