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Genetic Counseling and its Career Options
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Genetic counseling is an upcoming career in genetics and bioscience. After completion of the course they turn out to be professional genetic counselors, they can have their basic graduation from biology, genetics, nursing, psychology, public health, and social work. They also take part in clinical training. Students in these programs study genetics, psychosocial theory, ethics, and counseling.

Genetic counselors perform the role of evaluating and analyzing family history and medical records. They check whether there is any previous history of genetic disorders or birth defects in the family and educate the family members about the future possibilities of inheritance of the same defect or disorder. They play a very important role in letting the parents or the family members take a right decision, which can prevent lot of pain and struggle in the future. They serve as patient advocates, and refer individuals and families to community or state support services. They offer psychological support to the patients and the affected members of the family. Many along with counseling profession carry out their research activities also. The risk of occurrence of the disorder can be easily estimated by the genetic counselors.

Genetic tests are carried out by testing small samples of blood or body tissues. The test lets you know that whether you or your partner have any genetic defects that can be passed to the next generation.
They work as a team of health care professional along with doctor.

Usually doctors refer for genetic counseling under following cases.
• In case you or your spouse has a parent or a close relative with an inherited disease or birth defect.
• Either you or your husband already has children with birth defects or genetic disorders.
• If you have passed child bearing ages an had previous history of miscarriages
• Prenatal screening test shows an abnormal result.
• Sometimes about genetic defects that occur frequently in certain ethnic or racial groups. For example progenies of African parents may have sickle cell anemia and couples of Italian, Greek, or Middle Eastern descent may carry the gene for thalassemia, a red blood cell disorder.
It’s always better and safe to go for genetic counseling in case the first two factors apply.

Some of the genetic disorders that can be identified through testing are:
• Down's syndrome
• Cystic fibrosis
• Sickle cell
• Tay-Sachs disease (a fatal disease affecting the central nervous system)
• Spina bifida.

Huntington's disease which is a degenerative nerve disease and Marfan syndrome is known to cause connective tissue disorder can be hereditary from just one parent. Genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs disease, cannot occur unless both the mother and father pass along the gene. Some diseases like achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism can be inherited of because of some mutation.

The results obtained after genetic tests are not easy to interpret and come to a proper solution. These tests tell us about the missing pair of genes or a gene or any sort off mutations in the genome etc. They provide an accurate analysis after going through the results, which may be very complex.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Genetic counselors can work under following areas. :
Genetic counselors may specialize in genetic counseling in the prenatal, pediatric, cancer-risk, adult, cardiovascular, hematology, and neurogenetics setting Or they can be professionally employed in hospitals and provide counseling to the referred patients and their families. They can also work with upcoming biotech companies which devise, sell, and administer genetic tests. They can also provide a link between diagnostic laboratory and referring physicians and their patients. Usually genetics involves a lot of study on ethics and its issue, so they are employed as educators and advice company’s students, and lawmakers. Genetic counselors also work as study coordinator for research projects involved in genetics.

After genetic counseling is given, the family concerned can go for the following options like

Pre-implantation diagnosis, use donor sperm or donor eggs, adoption, taking the risk and having a child. These counseling sometimes prepare you mentally and emotionally to take the risk of having the child or abortion is also advised. Some can take decision and establish pregnancy and have specific prenatal testing.
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