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SAS® USER PROFILE
Name: Colleen McGahan
Location: Vancouver,
British Columbia
Company: BC Cancer Agency
SAS® History: My first introduction
to SAS® was in 1996 whilst studying for my masters in biometry at
Reading University in the UK. We covered the basics of a few of the
statistical procedures. It wasn’t until 2001 when I came to Vancouver
that I needed to develop my SAS skills further. Working as a biostatistician
for a biotech company, using SAS 8.2, I taught myself the basics
of data manipulation and was put in the position of managing an extremely
proficient and advanced SAS programmer – I learnt tons! Now working
for the BC Cancer Agency, still teaching myself, I’m still learning
tons. SAS is vast and powerful, and I love it.
In 2006 I attended my first SAS users group meeting, where a plea
was put out for volunteers to start the Vancouver SAS User Group
Executive. At the bottom of my evaluation form I scrawled something
along the lines of, “I’m not an advanced SAS user but if you’re
really desperate I’ll help out how I can.” The next thing I knew,
I had “the phone call,” and two years later I find myself President
of the Vancouver SAS User Group Executive. It has been extremely
rewarding being a part of this team. SAS used to be a tool to me,
something that enabled me to do my work. These days it is also
a network of people, and I’ve met some great, knowledgeable and
fun people through this role. I attended my first SAS Global Forum
this year in San Antonio, where the presidents from each of the
Canadian SAS user executives came together and discussed communication
and networking strategies. I have seen the Vancouver SAS User Group
grow from approximately 30-40 to 60-70 attendees. I hope it continues
to grow, and I hope to continue to contribute and help improve
the networking opportunities for the Vancouver users, to further
knowledge transfer, and of course, to keep improving my own SAS
knowledge.
About my hobbies
and on my spare time (when I’m not programming in SAS)... I’m
an outdoor, adventurous person
and I love the ocean and the mountains. I moved to Vancouver
from England for this outdoor life and I have not been
disappointed, although I do miss my family, who are
all still in the UK. Getting away sailing is a perfect
way for me to spend a weekend. I also enjoy skiing,
tennis and softball, but my loves are backpacking, photography,
red wine and Indian food, which I try to combine into
one activity as often as possible. If only I could make
a living doing it! Backpacking has been the main influence
of my photography, concentrating on landscapes. This
year I produced a British Columbia 2008 calendar that
was printed and given out as a gift to the attendees
of the annual BC Surgical Oncology Network Conference.
My love for Indian food stems
from my dad being born in Goa, India, and the excellent
teaching by his mum to my mum on how to cook the perfect
curry.
One thing every SAS
programmer should know: Through my journey of learning SAS
one of the many things I remember
that made my life easier was learning
the RETAIN statement. The RETAIN
statement is quite a powerful and
flexible tool and is useful for “remembering”
information from a previous observation.
I have attached an old SUGI
paper
that I found
useful, and I hope it will help a
number of you too.
I look forward to meeting more SAS users. |
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