Meet our ACRO Accreditation Team: Dora Pereira Lopez, BAAS, RT(T)

We're excited to introduce you to Dora Pereira Lopez, BAAS, RT(T), one of our ACRO Accreditation Physics Surveyors. She answered a few questions about his career and service to ACRO Accreditation:

Q: Please share your professional information and what led you to choose a career in the radiation oncology field.
DPL: I received my radiation therapy degree from Erie Community College and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. I continued my education and completed a baccalaureate degree at Texas State University, San Marcos TX. I am credential by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and am a member of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. For twenty- five years I worked in various radiation therapy departments in San Antonio TX as a staff therapist and ultimately, a chief therapist. My next venture was academia, serving as the Texas State University Radiation Therapy Program’s Clinical Education Director from 2001 until my retirement in 2018. I was interested in the medical field as a young girl. I preferred to be in a setting where I could interact with patients and be involved in their individual care. A teacher introduced me to the radiologic sciences and the radiation therapy field intrigued me. Once admitted to the program and my clinical education began, I knew I was in the right place. I have enjoyed every aspect of my therapy career to date.

Q: How did you become involved with the ACRO Accreditation program?
DPL: I learned about the accreditation program through my former classmates from Roswell Park who were active in the ACRO program. I was invited to join the team of surveyors in 2012.

Q: What do you like best about working as a surveyor?
DPL: At the start of my ACRO career, I enjoyed traveling to visit and tour the various cancer centers throughout the country. I was able to travel to cities I had never visited before. Every department was a unique and different experience and I always enjoyed the time spent with the therapists and other department personnel. When the pandemic began, our travel was shut down. After a short time, we evolved and began our virtual accreditation process although there was a bit of a learning curve. I still enjoy my virtual interactions with the cancer centers’ personnel and the opportunity to learn how different departments operate and care for their patients.

Q: Why do you think accreditation is important for practices?
DPL: As health care professionals, I believe we need to be held to the highest standards of care for our patients. ACRO strives to ensure that quality for our patients and the audits are conducted to assure these standards are followed.

Q: What are some tips you would share with practices going through accreditation?
DPL: My tip is to begin your review of the ACRO documents and the requirements for review once they have been made available to the appropriate staff. Early reviews provides the opportunity to question your surveyors and clarify what is expected of the practice on the scheduled survey date. Reviewers are always available prior to the survey to answer questions and help in the site’s preparation.

Q: What do you think differentiates the ACRO Accreditation program from other accrediting programs?
DPL: ACRO is a 100% radiation oncology focused program, which differentiates it from other accrediting bodies. I believe the ACRO site evaluation team composed of radiation oncologists, a medical physicist and a radiation therapist is the optimum team to evaluate and help the department meet their high standards of care we all expect of our health care providers.