Leah Kiesow was born to accept challenges and adventure with pride and spirit. As the newly installed President of the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) 2015-2016, we can only imagine those traits working to benefit every member of the association. Registry Partners Incorporated, while attending the annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, took the initiative to get to know more about Leah, her leadership, and what inspires her.
Leah currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is employed by Fox Chase Cancer Center as the Director of the Cancer Registry. She went to undergraduate school at Oregon State University and completed her MBA through the University of Phoenix. She is close to her family which includes a younger sister, mother and father along with her grandmother, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Her road and inspiration to the Cancer Registry profession began with a coding internship in 2006. During her internship she shared office space with a Certified Tumor Registrar who shared some of her experience and knowledge with Leah- hooking her to a career path that we are all thankful for. Much of her Cancer Registry specific training was through mentoring and on the job experience leading her to gain her own certification credentials in 2008.
Leah is not only strong in her professional determination but she also enjoys endurance type of hobbies such as running, hiking, dragon boating and strength training. In addition to the more athletic hobbies, Leah enjoys cooking and gardening.
Her passion for helping others as they attempt the journey into the Cancer Registry profession is evident by her involvement in numerous leadership roles with NCRA. She has served as the Editor of The Connection, an advisory board member of the Journal of Registry Management and also a member of NCRA’s advisory board that developed the “Registry Perspectives” column for the ADVANCE for Health Information Professionals.
Her best advice to Cancer Programs preparing for accreditation or re-accreditation survey is to ensure you have complete and accurate documentation in an organized manner. Make sure key members are involved and invested with their commitments as committee members, noting “it takes a village.”
As President of NCRA, Leah has set the goal of her one year term to “concentrate on encouraging the growth of current and future leaders within the profession.” If leading by example is any indication, there is no doubt that this will be another successful accomplishment on the resume of Leah Kiesow who continues to give and serve to anyone willing to learn.