Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

MS Human Genetics

Department

Human Genetics Graduate Program

Abstract

With various aspects of contemporary clinical practice and the rapidly growing field of genomic medicine, genetic counselors are responsible for meeting ever-changing demands of providing up-to-date healthcare services. Continuing education and recertification play a significant role in this process. This study assessed genetic counselors’ attitudes towards continuing education options. A web-based survey was sent to NSGC members resulting in 358 responses. Respondents rated current continuing education options as “mildly convenient” and “mildly transferable” to daily practice. The three continuing education options can be ranked according to convenience, from most to least, as follows: Category 1; PACs; Category 2. The options can also be ranked from most transferable to least transferable as follows: Category 1; PACs; Category 2. Open-ended responses showed recurrent themes across all credit types including process feedback and content feedback such as convenience, usefulness, and challenges. Another important theme was an underlying lack of knowledge surrounding continuing education options and processes. Providing more accessible information on continuing education options, cost management, and content review were identified as potential mechanisms for supporting effective continuing education. These findings are the first step towards verifying that genetic counselors believe efficient and effective continuing education is available and applicable to their work. We would encourage future research to investigate the impact of continuing education on genetic counselor’s competence and expertise. Potential topics for future investigation include long-term cost management of continuing education fees and efficacy of current options, with a focus on conference-based learning.

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