What is a Genetic Counselor?
Genetic counselors are health professionals with specialized graduate degrees and experience in the areas of medical genetics and counseling. Most enter the field from a variety of disciplines, including biology, genetics, nursing, psychology, public health and social work. (see “How to Become a Genetic Counselor”). Genetic counselors work as members of a health care team, providing information and support to families who have members with birth defects or genetic disorders and to families who may be at risk for a variety of inherited conditions. They identify families at risk, investigate the problem present in the family, interpret information about the disorder, analyze inheritance patterns and risks of recurrence and review available options with the family. Genetic counselors also provide supportive counseling to families, serve as patient advocates and refer individuals and families to community or state support services. They serve as educators and resource people for other heal
A genetic counselor is a health professional with a graduate degree (usually a masters in genetic counseling) and experience with medical genetics and counseling. Genetic counselors take on many roles that are helpful to patients, from educator to social worker to advocate, while also assisting the physician by collecting the pertinent information to make a diagnosis. We have expertise in genetic testing, and discussing testing options, helping people decide whether to undergo genetic testing, and explaining the results are all things you may cover in a session with your genetic counselor. Genetic counselors at the Genomic Medicine Institute see patients and also have other responsibilities, such as providing genetics education through public speaking engagements and coordinating research studies. Our access to cutting edge research being done in the GMI and our extensive network of colleagues enable us to bring scientific advances to our patients as quickly as discoveries are made.
Traditionally, a genetic counselor has a masters degree in genetic counseling and has studied genetic diseases and how those diseases run in families. The genetic counselor can help a person or family understand their risk for genetic conditions (such as cystic fibrosis, cancer, or Down syndrome), educate the person or family about that disease, and assess the risk of passing those diseases on to children. A genetic counselor will often work with families to identify members who are at risk. If it is appropriate, they will discuss genetic testing, coordinate any testing, interpret test results, and review all additional testing, surveillance, surgical, or research options that are available to members of the family.
A genetic counselor is a health professional with a graduate degree and experience with medical genetics and counseling. Genetic counselors provide information and support to people who may have, or are at risk for, a variety of inherited disorders. They also discuss genetic testing options so people can make fully informed decisions about whether to undergo genetic testing.
