Donna Jenkins serves in the position of Project Director for the Oncology Services Division. She oversees and directs state central registry based as well as mentoring existing and new state central registry project managers and project specialists.
Donna began working for Registry Partners in 2003, as a Certified Tumor Registrar where she has specialized in state central registry, population-based cancer registries. She was later promoted to Project Manager where she has managed state central registry based projects and project support staff.
Prior to joining Registry Partners, Jenkins received her Certificate in Histologic Technic from the Medical Center of South Carolina in Charleston, her Associate Degree in Allied Health Sciences from Trident Technical College in Charleston, SC and her national certification as a Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR), in 2001. She began her career in the Oncology field in 1999 where she served as Data Coordinator for the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry before working as a certified traveling registrar for an oncology consulting firm and as an independent contractor.
Jenkins is a member of the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA), South Carolina Cancer Registrars Association (SCCRA) and the National Society of Histotechnology. he presently resides in Summerville, SC with her husband Eddie. She has one son, Tighe (37) and one daughter, Hali (35).
Q&A with Donna:
Q: How is working as a CTR different in a central registry than in a hospital?
A: A central registry collects cancer patient incidence. The patients are diagnosed in hospitals but also in other type of diagnostic facilities. Abstracting is performed on pathology reports from freestanding clinics or physician offices. Central registries receive information from several sources on the same patient in order to include their full course of treatment. The data from all facilities is combined in the central registry to provide a complete summary of diagnosing and treatment information. This data is submitted to national standard setters such as the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. The data is compared with stringent guidelines to maintain a high level of accuracy in reporting.
Q: With all of your years of travel to Indiana, what advice do you have for the professional traveler?
A: BE PREPARED! Well, as best as one can. Prepare for the worst and expect the best. Pack an extra set of clothes and antibacterial wipes or gel.
A sense of humor goes a long way when your hotel room is not quite up to snuff or flight is delayed or cancelled. Chalk it up to another adventure!
On one stay, I took a picture of the boxer shorts hanging on the bathroom door and the men’s shoes neatly left in the closet to show the management of the hotel.
I received a $25 Starbucks gift card and was moved to a suite. One other piece of advice….do not open the drawer next to the bed.