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What is the best way to gain experience in the field of genetic counseling?

It seems that shadowing and volunteer opportunities are few and far between.

genetic-counseling
Thank you comment icon Hi Isabella! This is a FANTASTIC question! I used to want to go into genetic counseling when I was in middle school, and I had a lot of trouble trying to find an opportunity on our career-shadowing day. While I don't have a direct answer to your question, I can tell you that the reasons the opportunities are few and far between is because of HIPAA compliance and client confidentiality. This is true for other healthcare professions as well, which makes exploring these careers difficult sometimes! I hope you get some great advice to your question. Alexandra Carpenter, Admin
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Peyton’s Answer

Hi Isabella,

I am a genetic counselor and I am actually originally from Austin. Shadowing experience is difficult to obtain in the area. In some cases, you may be able to meet with a genetic counselor or observe a case conference, but not directly observe in patient care.

Here are a few links that may help you find shadowing experience or connect with a genetic counselor:
- Texas Society of Genetic Counselors: https://www.tsgc.org/prospective-students
-National Society of Genetic Counselors: https://www.nsgc.org/About/About-Genetic-Counselors

It may also be helpful to listen to podcasts or monthly conferences by genetic counselors about cases they have seen:
-GC Chat: A Genetic Counselling Podcast (they are based in Australia)
-Patient Stories with Grey Genetics

-My Gene Counsel offers a monthly case conference you can observe: https://www.mygenecounsel.com/media/career-resources/

These are all things that can help you determine if the field is right for you and can be put on your CV to show your interest in the field.

I also highly recommend looking at program websites for additional ideas.
Thank you comment icon HEY I LOVE SEEING THINGS ABOUT GENETIC COUNSELING.. I GOT A POST UP ABOUT A QUESTION ON IT :D David
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Malia’s Answer

Hi Isabella,

This is a great question! I am a genetic counselor who originally comes from a region of the country where it is difficult to find shadowing opportunities so I understand it can be very challenging. I would definitely agree with the other resources that have been provided so far. One other that I would recommend is the Find A Genetic Counselor tool put out by the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC):

https://findageneticcounselor.nsgc.org/

You can look up genetic counselors by region and filter by whether they are open to contact from prospective students. I know a lot of genetic counselors will be happy to have a phone call with someone who's interested in the field, which can help you learn more about the day-to-day even if you can't shadow them in person.

Hope this helps!
Thank you comment icon Loved seeing a genetic counselor.. I got a post up asking a question about it :D David
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Suzanne’s Answer

Hi Isabella, I found this link which might be of interest to you:
https://www.wigca.org/shadowing-sites

I know that Austin is a long way from Wisconsin...the above site is for Wisconsin shadowing sites...but it also has some suggestions for how to compensate for the difficulty in finding shadowing opportunities including setting up interviews, and watching online intro-to-genetic-counseling lectures.

Good luck with your interest in this fascinating field.
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