First experiences with the introduction of genetic counselors in human genetic services in the German-speaking countries.

ABSTRACT: In 2019, the Medical University of Innsbruck introduced the first Genetic and Genomic Counseling master's program in the German-speaking countries. A major challenge of this process was the absence of practicing Genetic Counselors (GC) in these countries, leading to a lack of experience with GCs in medical genetic services and the absence of a legal framework for the profession. Consequently, student placements within the program commenced with neither the students nor their supervising consultants having any previous experience of collaborative teamwork between clinical geneticists and GCs. To share insights from the initial implementation phase, supervising consultants from the seven student placement institutes were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews guided by open-end

SUBMITTER: Heidemann S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12041831 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature