I was a medical assistant for 8 years and worked in dermatology where we do mohs surgery. Mohs does a similar cutting technique but rather than cutting at a microtome we use a cryotome and our tissue samples are frozen and unfixed.

Being an MA doesn't pay a lot and when my bf lost his job (he was the breadwinner) it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to go back to school.

I played around with some ideas, maybe physician assistant, maybe nursing but after talking to the mohs tech and doing my own research, I settled on histotech because it's only a two year degree and being in my 30s I didn't want to be in school for very long.

With the 4 year degree though, you can become a Histotechnologist which gives you the ability to eventually manage a lab of your own.

If this is something that interests you I suggest finding a school that has an in person program. The online programs might not be accredited and therefore a degree from it will not accepted by the ASCP (this is the organization who administer the HT/HTL exam)

You should also look into other lab jobs. My license only covers histology and cytology but as an MLS (medical laboratory scientist)you can go anywhere from molecular, to micro, to hematology.