Genetic Counselor Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. Provide information to other healthcare providers or to individuals and families concerned with the risk of inherited conditions. Advise individuals and families to support informed decisionmaking and coping methods for those at risk. May help conduct research related to genetic conditions or genetic counseling.
Genetic Counselor is Also Know as
In different settings, Genetic Counselor is titled as
- Certified Genetic Counselor
- Genetic Counselor
- Medical Science Liaison
- Prenatal and Pediatric Genetic Counselor
- Reproductive Genetic Counseling Coordinator
Education and Training of Genetic Counselor
Genetic Counselor is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Genetic Counselor
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education Required for Genetic Counselor
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Genetic Counselor
- Bachelor in Genetics, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Genetics, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Genetics, General
- Bachelor in Molecular Genetics
- Associate Degree Courses in Molecular Genetics
- Masters Degree Courses in Molecular Genetics
- Bachelor in Human/Medical Genetics
- Associate Degree Courses in Human/Medical Genetics
- Masters Degree Courses in Human/Medical Genetics
- Bachelor in Genome Sciences/Genomics
- Associate Degree Courses in Genome Sciences/Genomics
- Masters Degree Courses in Genome Sciences/Genomics
- Bachelor in Genetics, Other
- Associate Degree Courses in Genetics, Other
- Masters Degree Courses in Genetics, Other
- Bachelor in Genetic Counseling/Counselor
- Associate Degree Courses in Genetic Counseling/Counselor
- Masters Degree Courses in Genetic Counseling/Counselor
Training Required for Genetic Counselor
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Genetic Counselor in different industries are
- Psychiatrists
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- Family Medicine Physicians
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Pediatricians, General
- Clinical Neuropsychologists
- Neurologists
- Pediatric Surgeons
- Cardiologists
- Preventive Medicine Physicians
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Acute Care Nurses
- Nurse Practitioners
- Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
- Dietitians and Nutritionists
- Neuropsychologists
- Allergists and Immunologists
- Physician Assistants
- Occupational Therapists
- Psychiatric Technicians
What Do Genetic Counselor do?
- Analyze genetic information to identify patients or families at risk for specific disorders or syndromes.
- Explain diagnostic procedures such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS), ultrasound, fetal blood sampling, and amniocentesis.
- Provide genetic counseling in specified areas of clinical genetics, such as obstetrics, pediatrics, oncology and neurology.
- Assess patients' psychological or emotional needs, such as those relating to stress, fear of test results, financial issues, and marital conflicts to make referral recommendations or assist patients in managing test outcomes.
- Provide counseling to patient and family members by providing information, education, or reassurance.
- Determine or coordinate treatment plans by requesting laboratory services, reviewing genetics or counseling literature, and considering histories or diagnostic data.
- Discuss testing options and the associated risks, benefits and limitations with patients and families to assist them in making informed decisions.
- Interpret laboratory results and communicate findings to patients or physicians.
- Interview patients or review medical records to obtain comprehensive patient or family medical histories, and document findings.
- Provide patients with information about the inheritance of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
- Refer patients to specialists or community resources.
- Write detailed consultation reports to provide information on complex genetic concepts to patients or referring physicians.
- Design and conduct genetics training programs for physicians, graduate students, other health professions or the general community.
- Collect for, or share with, research projects patient data on specific genetic disorders or syndromes.
- Engage in research activities related to the field of medical genetics or genetic counseling.
- Evaluate or make recommendations for standards of care or clinical operations, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, ethics, legislation, or policies.
- Identify funding sources and write grant proposals for eligible programs or services.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in genetics.
- Prepare or provide genetics-related educational materials to patients or medical personnel.
Qualities of Good Genetic Counselor
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Tools Used by Genetic Counselor
- Automated deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
- Benchtop ultracentrifuges
- Cryostats
- Differential interference microscopes
- Fluorescent microscopes
- Gel documentation systems
- High speed centrifuges
- Microplate readers
- Personal computers
- Phosphor imagers
- Table top centrifuges
- Ultracentrifuges
Technology Skills required for Genetic Counselor
- Benetech PRA
- BRCAPRO
- Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool
- CancerGene
- CyrillicSoftware Cyrillic
- Database software
- FileMaker Pro
- Ftree
- Jurek Software Pedigree-Draw
- Medgen PED
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- PedHunter
- PediDraw
- Pedigree drawing and management software
- Progeny Software Progeny Clinical
- Prognosis Innovation Healthcare ChartAccess
- SynDiag
- Wageningen MapChart
- Web browser software
- Word processing software