A report of the AGCPD task force to evaluate associations between select admissions requirements, demographics, and performance on ABGC certification examination

The goal of this study was to identify potential barriers in applying to a genetic counseling (GC) Master's degree program to inform strategies for increasing diversity and inclusiveness in the GC student recruitment process. Participants included prospective GC program applicants and admissions committee members from the four Canadian accredited programs. The study was conducted using a quantitative survey‐based approach. Twenty‐five prospective applicants who previously applied to a GC Master's degree program, 26 who had not applied, and 48 admissions committee members completed the survey. The small number of positions in GC programs was perceived by all groups as highly likely to impact an applicant's ability to gain acceptance to a program as was the limited number of GC training programs. Prospective applicants perceived additional barriers as significantly more likely to impact an individual's ability to apply to/attend a program when compared with admissions committee members including: cost of the application process, the applicant being a visible minority and the applicant having a physical disability. These findings highlight a number of perceived barriers related to applying to a GC Master's degree program. To our knowledge, this is the first study surveying prospective applicants and admissions committee members on barriers faced during the application process. The data from this study can also be used to inform the application process for other health professions.

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 71%

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confidence: 99%

Barriers in applying to genetic counseling Master's degree programs: Perceptions of prospective applicants when compared with Canadian admissions committee members

Zahavich

Babul‐Hirji

2023

“…In a recent original research article in this journal, Myers et al reported findings supporting the widely held assumption that white female trainees have higher odds of passing the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) certification examination on their first attempt than their non-female non-white peers (Myers et al, 2021).…”

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confidence: 87%

National Society of Genetic Counselors' Board of Directors response to Myers et al. ‘A report of the AGCPD task force to evaluate associations between select admissions requirements, demographics, and performance on ABGC certification examination’

Zierhut

Jamal

Riordan

et al. 2022

“…While there are published studies describing remediation practices in medical education, there is limited information available regarding remediation practices in genetic counseling training programs. A recent study assessed associations between genetic counselor trainee progress and first-time certification examination performance (Myers et al, 2022) remediation, and 2.6% required remediation for professionalism. For first-time certification examination takers, the need for clinical, professional, or academic remediation was associated with a decreased pass rate compared to students not needing remediation (65% vs. 90%).…”

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confidence: 99%

Genetic counseling program remediation practices for students underperforming in clinical skills: An exploratory study

Scouten

Wesson

Wetherill

et al. 2023

Program‐level clinical remediation in genetic counseling training programs aims to help students who are underperforming gain clinical skills to successfully manage clinical counseling sessions with patients. Student remediation often requires intervention, including discussions with program leadership and/or a formal remediation plan through the program. This study surveyed genetic counseling program leaders to explore the remediation landscape by identifying skills in which students underperformed, program remediation activities to improve skills, and remediation outcomes. Thirteen participants indicated their program required at least one student to complete program‐level clinical remediation during the last 10 years. Eight of the 13 programs (61.5%) required at least one student to participate in clinical remediation for underperformance in professionalism, seven (53.8%) for underperformance in educating patients, six (46.2%) for underperformance in critical thinking, and two (15.4%) for underperformance in demonstrating empathy. Nineteen students were remediated for underperformance in critical thinking. Of those 19 students, one student (5.2%) was dismissed from the training program, and five students (26.3%) chose to withdraw from their program. One of 13 (7.7%) students remediated for underperformance in educating patients and one of 11 (9.1%) students remediated for underperformance in professionalism chose to withdraw from their programs. All students remediated for underperformance in demonstrating empathy successfully completed program‐level clinical remediation and graduated. The most frequently endorsed factor positively associated with remediation success was completion of additional in‐person patient encounters. The most frequent barrier was a student's poor mental health. Participants most frequently endorsed identification of resources for specific areas of remediation to improve their programs' efficacy in clinical remediation practices. This exploratory study provides valuable information describing clinical skills that require remediation in genetic counseling graduate training, the remediation practices utilized by training programs, and resources that may increase remediation success.