News Information

SCHNECK HONORS SHERRY DOWLING DURING NATIONAL CANCER REGISTRARS WEEK
April 3, 2012

Schneck Medial Center honors Sherry Dowling, CTR, cancer registrar, during National Cancer Registrars Week (NCRW), April 9-13. Dowling is recognized for her role in the development of the cancer program at Schneck, and the implementation of the cancer registry in 1986. Through her efforts, the registry has grown from a paper-based system to today’s fully automated registry with a core electronic medical records database. Dowling is also an active member and current president of the Indiana Cancer Registrars Association.

The purpose of NCRW is to emphasize the foundation cancer registrars provide for cancer research, prevention, and treatment. The 2012 NCRW theme, Partners in Progress, reflects the role of the cancer registrar in partnering with the medical community for a cancer free tomorrow.

Cancer registrars are data information specialists that collect and code patient-level data for cancer registries. The registries provide essential information to healthcare providers and health officials to better monitor and improve cancer treatment, conduct research, and target cancer prevention and screening programs.

“This year’s theme—Partners in Progress—was chosen to acknowledge how cancer registrars are important allies in the fight against cancer. They play a pivotal role by capturing data—data used by researchers and medical professionals who are seeking to advance cancer prevention programs and treatment. We celebrate National Cancer Registrars Week to honor this important contribution,” notes National Cancer Registrars Association president Melanie W. Rogan, CTR.

Cancer registrars work in a variety of cancer treatment and research settings and manage a wide range of demographic and medical data on those with cancer. The information is both submitted and utilizes by state and national cancer registries to enable cancer programs to accurately determine cancer patient populations, measure outcomes of treatment and survival, and formulate plans for improvement.

According to the National Cancer Registrars Association, cancer research would virtually be nonexistent without the Cancer Registrar. Quality cancer data is central to the nation’s cancer control efforts and cancer registrars are the first link by capturing data on patients diagnosed with cancer. This data often results in the publication of groundbreaking research.