Cytotechnology programs prepare people to do lab tests on cells. Students learn how to prepare cell samples on slides and use microscopes. They also learn to recognize healthy or abnormal cell structures in order to help diagnose diseases. In addition, they learn safety procedures and record keeping.

Did you know the average adult is made up of 100 trillion cells? Fifty billion of them – the white blood cells – stand by to protect you from infection. Your brain is composed of 100 billion neurons that live your whole lifetime. And those are just a couple of the types of cells in your body. With all of those cells, and the important functions that they have, it's no wonder that there are people devoted to checking up on your cells. Healthy cells translate to a healthy you.

Cytotechnologists use microscopes to look at samples of cells and determine if they're healthy or not. If a cell is unhealthy, they notice in what ways it is unhealthy. Those specific ways help them identify possible diseases that the patient has. Because cytotechnology is a way to identify diseases, cytotechnologists work closely with pathologists.

As a student in this program, you learn about cells from different parts of the human body. You also learn about the diseases that affect these different types of cells, and how they do this. For example, you may study red blood cells and learn to identify the crescent-shaped cells that characterize sickle-cell anemia. Or you might find a population of skin cancer cells among skin cells taken from a suspicious mole.

About 45 schools in the U.S. offer programs in cytotechnology. Not all may be accredited, however. You can earn a bachelor's degree, a post-baccalaureate certificate, or in a couple cases, a master's degree. Some of the programs are part of a separate cytotechnology department. Others are connected with related departments such as clinical sciences or pathology.

A bachelor's degree typically takes four to five years of full-time study after high school. A post-baccalaureate certificate usually takes one year in addition to the four years spent earning a bachelor's degree. And a master's degree generally takes two years after earning a bachelor's degree.