Everything Doc Show Notes: Genetic Counseling

Special guest: Allison Hutchinson a certified genetic counselor. Has worked at Sanford Imaginetics for the last 2 years. Her focus is working with teams to offer genomic and pharmacogenomics education to providers, patients, and the public. She is part of a research collaborative investigating whether these education interventions have been successful and how to continuously improve. Prior to this Allison was a high school science teacher for over a decade. She enjoys listening to podcasts in her spare time!

Quote: “Teaching should always start the discussion and never end it.”

Genetic Counselor: Advanced healthcare providers with training in genetics and counseling.

Education includes semester in classroom, year in clinic, research throughout

Certified

Who should see a genetic counselor?

Those with rare genetic diseases in family

Family history of related cancers in 2 or more people on same side, often earlier onset

Help interpreting consumer driven testing

Cardiovascular diseases: arrhythmias with sudden cardiac death, familial hypercholesterolemia

Pretest counseling is important! Think about all possible outcomes of genetic testing and what you might do with range of results.

How to prepare?

Come with information about family members: cause of death, age of death, chronic diseases, so pedigree can be developed.

Help write letters to family

Most insurances cover but varies check with your insurance

For more information about Genetic Counseling visit:

https://imagenetics.sanfordhealth.org/

https://www.aboutgeneticcounselors.org/

https://www.augie.edu/academics/graduatepeducation/master-science-genetic-counseling

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