Genetic counselors, such as those trained in the school’s Master of Genetic Counselor Studies Program, are critical members of health care teams who support, guide and care for patients when there is a genetic link to their condition or illness. Nov. 9 this year marks Genetic Counselor Awareness Day, an occasion to recognize and honor the important work done by genetic counselors. To spotlight their profession, alumni of the program submitted thoughts about what inspired them to enter this career.
The school’s program is one of the oldest in the nation. The first class graduated in 1978. There are more than 200 alumni working across the nation, as well as internationally. In addition, alumni are well represented among program directors. Out of the approximately 50 accredited genetic counseling programs, six have been or are directed by SMPH alumni. The SMPH program is directed by Laura E. Birkeland, MS, CGC, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
Craig Adamski, MS, CGC (2010)
What is your role?
Senior Medical Science Liaison II
What inspired you to become a Genetic Counselor?
I wanted a career that was challenging and would require ongoing learning. With constant updates in the field of genetics, genetic counseling felt like a great fit. I also wanted to maintain an aspect of working in healthcare and providing education to others.
Can you tell us a little about your work/position?
I currently work for Exact Sciences providing education and outreach to providers using our precision oncology testing. I collaborate with several other departments including sales, marketing, and medical affairs on our current test offerings and new testing opportunities.
How do you see your current position as helping to advance genetics in medicine and access to care for all?
In my current role, I help providers to stay educated and understand cutting edge testing they provide to patients from all walks of life. The field of genetic testing is constantly evolving, and support for providers is important to maintain the best level of patient care and management. Being a field based employee allows me to be a direct liaison between providers/their patients and the laboratory. If there are concerns with testing, or access to testing, these issues make it back to the lab to address.
Anything else you would like to add?
Genetic counseling is more than clinical care and management. The experiences and education allow genetic counselors to wear many different hats and be important assets in health care across many different settings. Oncology is one of the most impacted areas for precision medicine/genomic medicine, but there are applications across most, if not all, of healthcare. There are many misconceptions about genetic counseling and genetic testing. It’s important for everybody to have a basic understanding of genetics and the testing that is being offered to them, including benefits, potential harms, limitations, and next steps.
Melissa (Baraboo) Mazzone, MS, CGC (2003)
What is your role?
Medical Science Liaison
What inspired you to become a Genetic Counselor?
I loved biology but knew I didn’t want to work in a lab. I also knew I didn’t want to be a doctor as blood, guts and contagious illness were not my thing. In college, I was a residence life assistant (RLA) for 3 years and really liked tending to the psychosocial needs of others. To me, genetic counseling is the perfect blend of science, medicine and helping. I worked as a clinical genetic counselor for 17 years and now work in a non-patient facing role.
Can you tell us a little about your work/position?
I am currently a Medical Science Liaison at a pharmaceutical company with a Rare Disease division. A lot of my focus is provider education and fostering scientific relationships in the rare disease community. I also help to support clinical trials and research collaboration.
How do you see your current position as helping to advance genetics in medicine and access to care for all?
As an MSL, I try to identify and support the educational needs of providers who diagnose and care for patients with genetic disease. My goal is to reduce the diagnostic delay and to support the optimization of care and outcomes for rare disease patients.
Denise Jones, MS, CGC (2007)
What is your role?
Vice President, Clinical Operations
What inspired you to become a Genetic Counselor?
I’ve always had a love for science and fell in love with genetics in college. A career that could pair that love with helping people was the perfect fit for me.
Can you tell us a little about your work/position?
My current role is VP, Clinical Operations at InformedDNA. I am responsible for overseeing the day-to-day functions of our Clinical Operations Division, including operational performance, staffing and budgeting, and personnel management.
How do you see your current position as helping to advance genetics in medicine and access to care for all?
My current role involves a skill set which was not taught with my Masters of Medical Genetics degree. This role not only involves the knowledge base of a genetic counselor but also understanding my organization’s business plan and vision. My role involves using operational, performance and financial data to hit revenue targets for a successful business as well as to facilitate positive company culture and offer leadership, mentoring and guidance to all members of our organization.
Anything else you would like to add?
It is an amazing time to be a genetic counselor. I love seeing all of the various roles that genetic counselors are growing into. The sky is the limit!
Lindsay Zetzsche, MBA, MS, LCGC (2004)
What is your role?
Genetics Director of Operations
What inspired you to become a Genetic Counselor?
When I applied to the genetic counseling program, I highlighted my love of science and genetics as well as working with people. At the time, I didn’t realize that probably everyone who was interested in becoming a Genetic Counselor said the same things – but they are true! I still find genetics fascinating, and the pace of knowledge in this field means that we are continually growing and learning.
Can you tell us a little about your work/position?
I work at a large national payer and manage the genetic testing prior authorization program. This requires both a “big picture” view of genetics medicine, but also is very technical work and involves a lot of problem solving and maintenance of test registries. My team and I serve as subject matter experts to the medical policy team and are responsible for aligning the medical policies with our prior authorization system. I also regularly communicate with laboratories and other external genetics groups with the goal of building and strengthening relationships within the genetics community.
How do you see your current position as helping to advance genetics in medicine and access to care for all?
When I was in clinical genetics, my focus was on the individual patients and families in front of me. Payers are focused on the delivery of medicine at the population level, trying to keep overall healthcare costs down while promoting high quality services in a way that are fair, equitable, and consistent. This includes trying to identify and reach populations that are underserved or where there is an underutilized service. For example, our team has developed the NICU program that works to identify babies in the NICU who could benefit from rapid whole exome sequencing (rWES; soon moving to rapid whole genome sequencing) and setting up contracts so that the lab bills us directly instead of it coming from the hospital capitated rate, which is a barrier for some hospitals in offering the testing.
Anything else you would like to add?
I feel strongly that Genetic Counselors should have a seat at the table when decisions about genetic testing are being made. GCs have skills that apply across numerous positions and can adapt when talking with clinicians, business people, and laboratorians. GCs understand clinical genetics, the healthcare industry, laboratory testing, and how billing works.
Also, I feel grateful for my experience working with patients and their families in the early years of my career journey, because it really makes it easy to remember that ultimately it is the patient that is the heart of health care and needs to be kept center of all programs and decisions.