A field of employment in cancer work that I had not heard of

Of course doctors, nurses, radiology workers, hospital staff, and even health center librarians and such come to us as familiar titles when we think of employment specialties in cancer work.

But one that may not be all that familiar to us, and which I for one was unaware of, is "cancer registrar."

Or perhaps I have been uninformed. Had you heard of it?

It seems they are out there, working with their colleagues in cancer care, and they make a contribution.

Bing definition: Cancer registrars are data information specialists who capture a complete history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status for every cancer patient.

Also Bing: A cancer registrar is someone who manages a cancer registry, a collection of carefully collated data about cancers. Many nations have cancer registries, and individual hospitals and research facilities may also employ cancer registrars to track trends unique to their institutions.

So it looks like the job is kind of combination of data collector, data processor and analyst, statistician, and even librarian, working to identify facts and trends both for individual patients and for patient groups involved with cancer.

A short Youtube look at what a cancer registrar is and does:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cancer+registrar+youtube&docid=608012673109798361&mid=1a8e8c1928c3dbe175051a8e8c1928c3dbe17505&view=detail&form=vire

Another feature, according to some other sites, is that this work can often be done at home over the web, with work produced at home transmitted to a remote hospital, lab, etc.

Another member of the cancer care team that it's good to be aware of, and to appreciate the contribution that people in this specialty make.

In light of this thread topic, a personal story to share ...

I visit Mayo Clinic a couple of times a year, to update tests and scans, and to consult with Dr. Kwon.

With my grandfather, father, uncle, and I all being prostate cancer patients --- representing three generations of my family ---- I had the opportunity to participate in two cutting-edge genetic tests ... one involving blood samples and the other one involving tissue samples, saved in the lab from my original biopsy.

Beyond that ... first diagnosed in my 40s, and participating in some new treatments when they first rolled out, Mayo Clinic asked me if I would agree to have my particulars entered into their data pool, which includes particulars from thousands of other patients.

My participation was completely voluntary ... I felt it was something I could do.

The purpose is to continue tracking thousands of patients, over time --- with various health concerns. In any given year, Mayo Clinic serves hundreds of thousands of patients, from across the globe.

The data pool, as it expands and evolves over time, will continue to help guide treatment decisions for new patients in the future.

Drop by drop, the bucket is filled ~~~
CYCLONE - # Iowa State University