Genetic counseling: Growth of the profession and the professional

Abstract

Growth of the profession of genetic counseling has gone hand-in-hand with professional development of individual genetic counselors. Genetic counseling has achieved most of the typical early milestones in the development of a profession. The profession is maturing at a time when the number of practitioners is predicted to vastly expand. The last two decades have seen a proliferation of genetic counselor roles and practice areas, and a distinct professional identity. It is likely that the next two decades will see an increase in educational paths, practice areas, and possibilities for professional advancement. How this maturation proceeds will be impacted by overall trends in healthcare, decisions made by international genetic counseling organizations, and thousands of individual decisions about career trajectories.

Genetic counseling education at the undergraduate level: An outreach initiative to promote professional recruitment and support workforce development

“…Although the field has grown in India and elsewhere since the course was conceived in the year 2016, there are still several challenges surrounding genetic counseling workforce development. These challenges, including relatively low awareness of the genetic counseling profession, limited opportunities for shadowing, lack of national recognition of genetic counseling as a healthcare service, and lack of establishment of practice standards, are not unique to India (Baty, 2018; Bucio, Ormond, Hernandez, Bustamante, & Lopez Pineda, 2019; Laurino et al, 2017; Ormond et al, 2018; Sun, Liang, Zhu, Shen, & He, 2019). Country‐specific studies to assess the factors that influence workforce development could be beneficial in providing a framework for growth of the profession.…”

“…| 235 NEOGI Et al. supports the expansion of recruitment efforts. While the field is more developed in some countries compared with others (Ormond et al, 2018), the demand-supply gap in the number of GCs is common worldwide (Baty, 2018;Dwarte et al 2019;Patch & Middleton, 2018;Wicklund & Trepanier, 2014). To meet the needs of the Indian population, efforts are currently focused on increasing awareness of and recruitment into the field and acceptance of GCs into the healthcare system.…”

The rise of the genetic counseling profession in China

“…Fourth, the development of genetic counseling profession in China needs to weave itself into the context of the development of this profession worldwide (Baty, ). Genetic counselors in developed countries have begun to address a greater number of clinical cases utilizing genomic data rather than targeted gene information, and deal with cases in genetic conditions more complex than monogenic disorders (Bowdin et al, ; Shelton & Whitcomb, ).…”

Role and practice evolution for genetic counseling in the genomic era: The experience of Australian and UK genetics practitioners

“…Shugar et al (2017) Regulation of GC practice is important as more roles will involve GCs to be based in MDT as the genetics expert (Middleton et al, 2017;Patch & Middleton, 2018). Importantly, professional registration and GC certification in both the UK and USA have lead to more autonomous practice opportunities and recognition of GC ability (Baty, 2018) and ensures quality and safe practice (Professional Standards Authority, 2016).…”