Lauren coordinates and manages Quality Control activities on her assigned projects through ongoing support and guidance of her data abstraction teams. Lauren resides in Louisiana. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, quality time with family and friends and being outdoors with her dog.
Prior to joining Registry Partners, Lauren worked for Lafayette General Medical Center in Louisiana as an Oncology Registrar where she was involved with all aspects of the cancer program.
Lauren earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is a Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR). She is also a member of the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) and the Louisiana Cancer Registrars Association (LCRA).
Q & A with Lauren:
Q: How did you become interested in the CTR/Cancer Registry profession?
A: I became interested in the cancer registry profession when I was working in a physician’s office and started a friendly conversation with a patient that worked in the cancer registry profession. She explained to me what exactly a cancer registry is and why it is so important. I was instantly intrigued. I went home that night, researched the profession more, and quickly realized that it was the career path I wanted to pursue.
Q: What qualities do you feel are necessary for someone to be a good cancer registrar?
A: In order to be a good cancer registrar, it is necessary that you are detail oriented and always willing to learn and adapt to changes. Being detail oriented in our profession is necessary in order to ensure we are contributing high quality and accurate data. The cancer registry profession is constantly changing, whether it be new data items we need to collect or new cancer staging systems being released, an eagerness & willingness to learn and adapt to change is necessary to be successful in this profession.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering a cancer registry career and pursuing their CTR?
A: I would tell someone interested in a cancer registry career to reach out to someone in the profession that could help guide or mentor them and most importantly don’t give up! This profession is truly rewarding and serves a great purpose in that the data we collect is used by researchers and physicians to treat and prevent cancer.