Melissa Chapman, RHIT, CTR serves as Quality Control Manager for the Registry Partners Oncology Division.
Prior to joining Registry Partners, Melissa was a tumor registrar for SUNY Upstate Medical University in Oswego, NY where she was responsible for various registry operations functions. Melissa has also served as an Outpatient Coder for Oswego Hospital in Oswego, NY.
She holds an Associates Degree in Health Information Technology from Alfred State in Alfred, NY, is a Registered Health Information Technologist (RHIT) and Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR).
In her spare time she enjoys reading, painting with watercolors, knitting, walking her dogs and spending time with her family.
Q & A with Melissa:
Q: How did you become interested in the Cancer Registry/CTR profession?
A: In my Associates, RHIT program, we touched on cancer registry as a career path for RHIT and HIT professionals. After reviewing the information I felt it would be an interesting field to be involved in. After working in the HIM field for several months I started this journey by taking the first NCRA online course in January 2016 and by January 2017 I had completed all 6 courses. I have been involved in the Cancer Registry field since December 2016 when I accepted a position as Cancer Registrar at a COC facility local to my home where I could gain experience in the field and be eligible to take the certification exam. I have been hooked ever since.
Q: What advice would you give others considering a cancer registry career and pursuing their CTR certification?
A: A lot of cancer registrars go on to many different paths. Reach out to a cancer registrar in a local facility and ask them their thoughts about the field. You don’t have to be a certified tumor registrar to learn (as I have experienced). Go to a regional meeting if you can, these can provide an enormous amount of information and provide great networking. I would also search the internet for articles from local cancer registry associations and NCRA.
Q: What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your career?
A: I have gained so much knowledge in this field since I started and I know that the work we all do as Cancer Registrars is very important in all aspects of cancer care. My career provides many opportunities to learn and develop skills which are needed in the Cancer Registry field now and in the future. I am so excited to be involved in this field!