Case studies: Genetic counsellor: Julie

After studying genetics, Julie applied for a genetics counselling internship in America...

I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2006 with a degree in genetics. My degree covered genetics, biochemistry, bioethics, cancer genetics and cytogenetics. After my degree, I moved to Chicago, USA to be near my family.

I first heard of genetic counselling when counsellors from the Nottingham area came to one of our medical genetics lectures and talked about what sort of work they did. It was definitely something that interested me, but not something I pursued immediately. After I graduated I started to think about it more and applied for an internship at Northwestern University in Chicago to find out if it would be something I would like doing.

During the internship, I got to sit in and observe genetic counselling sessions in different medical settings, such as pre-natal, paediatrics and oncology. I decided it was definitely something that interested me, so I decided to apply for graduate school.

Although the internship I did had an application process, many students get their first experience with genetic counselling by contacting individual counsellors and asking to shadow them.

I'll graduate as a fully qualified genetic counsellor in 2010. In the meantime, I’ve been working with families with autism as a family support worker.

Graduate schools who train people for genetic counselling often recommend you have some experience with people with disabilities, so you have some idea about the challenges faced by someone with a disability and also their families. This can be helpful when talking to patients, for example, if they are pregnant and are at risk of having a child with developmental delays or Down's syndrome.

Working with people with developmental disabilities is also a personal interest of mine, as I spent time volunteering with Mencap when I was in the UK and always enjoyed my studies.

AGCAS

Sourced by Julie Bhagat, City College Manchester

Date: 

January 2009

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