Tissue Recovery Specialist

[trunksvegeta]

Hi, has anyone on here ever worked as a tissue recovery specialist or know what this job involves? I understand that it mainly involves harvesting various tissues that have been donated musculoskeletal,,cornea,,,bone..skin etc...however is a tissue recovery specialist actually involved in grafting the tissue off of a cadaver or are they sent frozen/from hospital? I recently saw a job opportunity in the paper and was interested. Also, would anyone have any idea of how much the pay might be? Thanks

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[stork12]

i interviewed for a tissue recovery job, but decided not to take it because you have to be on-call for 12 hour shifts (7 am to 7 pm, 7 pm to 7 am) and there is no guarantee that you will get called during your shift since you are basically waiting for donors to die. however, if you do get called in, you get $125 for about 4 hours worth of work. at the place i interviewed, you start off only doing cornea recovery, but then get trained to do other tissues (and then your salary goes up too). so basically, you have to be flexible and have guts too - i was scared of the thought that i might have to be in the morgue alone at 4 in the morning. best of luck with your decision and e-mail me if you have anymore questions.

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by stork12
i was scared of the thought that i might have to be in the morgue alone at 4 in the morning. best of luck with your decision and e-mail me if you have anymore questions.

ever see The Client with Sarandon? after seeing what the innards of a hospital looks like late at night/early in the morning, i wouldn't want to be in that situation.

 

[trunksvegeta]

thanks guys for the replies,,,
thats what I was afraid of...when I get to med school Im sure Ill get used to it, but being in a morgue for now is plain freaky...

 

[ellemarii]

hey trunksvegeta,

i work as a recovery tech for an organ/tissue/eye procurement agency. pm me with any questions you have.

 

[mattie113]

worked as a tissue harvester for 3.5 years - you can also pm me if you want any details etc.

 

[ellemarii]

mattie, what are you doing in the premed forums??? don't you have enough work to do at michigan?
lots of love from dna

 

[Alvarez13]

Power BUMP.

I've actually had some opportunities arrise in this area and was wondering if anyone had any experience in this field. Anyone do this kind of work and go to med school the same time? I'd love to keep my debt down as much as possible and I'm hoping to have some free time on the weekends or between M1/M2 to do something in this industry...

 

[kami333]

Eye banking for 2 years.

As was stated above, the biggest problem is scheduling/hours. For us, we had part time coordinators who were nursing/medical school students but their hours were predictable (5pm-12am), where as the technicians were on call from 5pm until 8am when the full time staff arrived. I would at least look into it to see what type of time commitment they are looking for.


And morgues aren't too bad, it's the funeral homes that are creepy. Sometimes you'll have to do a recovery in a embalming room and there will be a row of bodies that are all done up with make up and wearing nice clothes, looking like they are just ready to wake up and walk out at any moment.

 

[BigRedder]

Shylock?

 

[cottonrabbit]

In my experience, tissue recoveries (skin/bones/heart valves/veins/ect.) will always take place in OR's, whether in a hospital or a special recovery suite. Morgues and funeral homes don't have the space and amenities for such procedures. You scrub in with a team and drape like you would for a live patient. Eye only recoveries are different and they work alone. It's definitely possible to do it per diem, but it requires some training time.

 

[jasmen]

i just received offer for an interview for a tissue recovery coordinator. any idea on what the interview process is like and what can i do to make myself stand out in a positive way amongst other candidates?

 

[Starlitkerrie]

thanks guys for the replies,,,
thats what I was afraid of...when I get to med school Im sure Ill get used to it, but being in a morgue for now is plain freaky...

Hoe does the payscale work, if I am on call what am I expected to receive, minimum wage? Then if im called in it goes up?

 

[ciestar]

Hoe does the payscale work, if I am on call what am I expected to receive, minimum wage? Then if im called in it goes up?

This post is 14 years old.