Presidents Message
Wow, what a way to start a year! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d ever write an article containing the words pandemic, COVID-19, social distancing (what?). That being said, I sincerely hope you and all your loved ones are safe and healthy.
The OCRA Executive committee have already met twice this year. We will be reviewing the OCRA By-laws closely to ensure the By-laws align with the scholarship and other OCRA specific forms. We will also be re-visiting the different levels of OCRA membership. This was discussed at the OCRA Business meeting last year and at that time no decisions were made to make any changes. We would like to simplify the different levels of membership. Expect to hear more on this topic. We are also doing an intensive review of the OCRA website to ensure accuracy and continuity.
The OCRA Welcoming Committee has been working hard on putting a plan together for welcoming new members and promoting OCRA. It’s exciting to have such a great group of volunteers who are so passionate about the Certified Tumor Registrar classification and career path.
Nominating committee will be making contact with all the current OCRA members to hopefully find some volunteers for the 2021 OCRA offices. Please think about it.
West Coast Regional Education Conference 2020: Due to COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty, the 2020 conference is cancelled and has been rescheduled for August 11-13, 2021. Any requested refunds will be sent out soon. Most registrations were rolled over along with all the vendor/sponsorships.
Speaking of education, the OCRA Executive committee and OSCaR are trying to figure out educational options for the OCRA membership for 2020. At this point it looks like it will have to be a virtual event since we can’t have any large gatherings thru September. We are still in the beginning stages of planning and discussions. So stay tuned. If you have any suggestions or would like to help plan please contact one of the Executive committee members.
Sorry for the delay in the newsletter. We were hoping to publish the newsletter after the 2020 NCRA conference and have OCRA attendees share information, but NCRA has been postponed/rescheduled for September 20-23, 2020.
I have decided I will not attend the rescheduled 2020 NCRA conference. I will be deferring to the OCRA By-laws for an OCRA Executive committee member to attend the conference in my absence.
These are certainly strange times. Thank you for the honor of representing OCRA as your President for 2020. Please contact me for any questions or concerns.
Deborah Towell, CTR
2020 OCRA President