“Noreen is incredibly conscientious, very detailed and a hard worker. Great attitude and accepts changes without complaints.” This high praise about Noreen Brown, CTR, Cancer Registry Coordinator at Oklahoma University Medical Center, comes from her supervisor, Nancy Etzold, CTR, Director, of the Cancer Registry at OU Medical Center.

For many years, Noreen was an executive assistant in the educational field and one day decided to take a career assessment test. Repeatedly, the test results stated that Noreen should aim her professional sights toward the healthcare field. She enrolled in HIM classes and noticed that one class focused on cancer registry.  It was then that she met Nancy Etzold.  Noreen followed up by taking classes with none other than April Fritz, CTR. It is not surprising that she passed her CTR test in 2010!

Noreen began her career under the wings of Nancy and excelled as a Cancer Registrar. She says, “Each abstract is different and tells a story,” as she compares abstracting with a jigsaw puzzle, stating, “It’s very rewarding when you find the missing piece.”

Being part of the OU team is something that Noreen particularly enjoys. They start each week with a cancer registry meeting for 15 to 30 educational minutes. They then discuss and explain various fields in the abstract (i.e.  when to use Tx and Nx and reference where to find it). All the team members are happy and willing to learn and share

Noreen loves to travel and to particularly go on cruises. She has taken cruises to the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, the California coast and more. She also really enjoys spending time in nature – the forest, mountains and along lakes are her favorite places to hike.

For almost two years, Noreen lived in France and went cross-country skiing and hiking in the Alps. She especially loved the French patisseries! Living in France was the most exciting experience of her life.