In addition to support services for hospitals and central registries across the country, Registry Partners provides mentoring services to hospital staff members in need of training or those who are preparing for their CTR certification. One of our mentees, Isaiah, recently passed his CTR exam and is officially a CTR! We are so proud of the work that he has put in and wanted to share a little bit about him with our readers.
Q&A With Isaiah:
Q: What about the cancer registry made you want to pursue your CTR?
A: I chose to pursue my CTR because it is a career in which I can apply my background in human health to ultimately assist researchers in understanding and treating cancer more effectively.
Q: How did you prepare for your CTR exam? Was it as difficult as you thought it would be?
A: I prepared for my CTR exam by taking the classes offered through the NCRA website, a focused mentoring of top sites by a fellow CTR, and practice tests through the seer educate website. The test I found to be more challenging than expected because of format rather than content (the test is quite lengthy and for part of the exam you are trying to use 4 reference books in a confined space)
Q: What advice would you give to someone thinking of pursuing their CTR?
A: For someone thinking of pursuing their CTR, I would tell them that it’s ok to feel overwhelmed at times. This is subject matter that many will have little to zero experience with simply because it is so specialized. At first, trying to learn everything can be a daunting task. With time, it will make more sense as your knowledge base grows.
Isaiah graduated from Duquesne University in spring of 2014 with a double major in Biology and Health Sciences. After graduating Isaiah was offered an internship at the Performance Improvement and Patient Safety Dept. at UNC Chapel Hill. This is where he was introduced to the Cancer Registry and decided to pursue becoming a CTR. With the support of many mentors along the way, Isaiah passed the CTR exam in July 2016. Outside of work he enjoys carpentry, fishing, and raising chickens.