How long have you been an oncology social worker?
I have been an oncology social worker for 19 years. Before that, I worked in geriatric social work for 14 years.
 
Where do you currently work? What is your position? How long have you been there? Include prior oncology social work.
I am currently retired from my social work career. My last position was in radiation oncology at the Mayo Clinic, where I was the only social worker for the practice. I enjoyed the patients and my colleagues on the medical team, and met with every patient to introduce them to the oncology social work role and screen for needs.
 
Where did you earn your degree(s)?
I have a long-ago Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics from the University of Arizona (a program that was dissolved with the times a year after my graduation) and an MSW from Arizona State University. These two schools are rivals in sports, so I joke that I never know who to root for.
 
How long have you been a member of AOSW?
I joined AOSW in 2004, the year I gave my first conference presentation on a stress management program I had developed. I was elated to have my abstract accepted and super nervous giving my talk.
 
Have you attended the AOSW conferences? When/where?
I’ve attended many AOSW conferences and had the honor to speak at quite a few. I was this year’s closing keynote speaker and am in awe of having been offered this role. It takes me back to that first presentation, and reminds me that AOSW can be such an amazing vehicle for professional growth.
 
In your role as an oncology social worker/clinician, what is one of your favorite resources to share with clients? Why?
When I was working, my favorite resource was actually a patient financial assistance program that I helped create. I had a wealthy patient who wanted to give back, having benefited from psychosocial care, and she and her husband worked with our development department to fund a financial support program for low income cancer patients. To my understanding, the fund is still going strong and helping those without other means of assistance. You never know the opportunities to make a difference that await you.
 
In your experience with survivors, would you share a memorable story with us?
Over the years I worked with so many amazing patients, but it’s the resiliency, deep love and fierce loyalty I saw in some couples that has stayed with me the longest. I used to collect beautiful stones and when a special couple would leave my world through the death of one of the partners, I would write their names on one of my stones and keep it on a shelf near my desk. I grow quite a collection of recollected devotion.
 
In that “little something more” section, what is one thing you might share with us about you personally, one that is outside of your work life?
Well, now that I’m retired I’m growing in so many directions. I started a two-year journey to become an ordained Episcopal deacon and have become an artist. I’ve been studying art since I retired in 2014 and now show and sell watercolors of macro focus botanical subjects. I’m also studying classical drawing and oil painting at an artists’ atelier, so am excited to see where this takes me. I’m active in arts outreach efforts, working on both an art summer camp for kids and an art exploration program for dementia patients and their family caregivers. And, of course, I stay active in AOSW as I love our profession and want to give back whenever I can. I think we social workers understand that developmentally we are often transitioning and retirement is yet another time when we’re called to build a new life. It’s exciting and I feel very blessed.