An exploration of novice genetic counselors’ transitional challenges: Commencement is just the beginning

Psychosocial counseling is the foundation of genetic counseling. Genetic counseling students are required to receive in‐depth training on psychosocial counseling techniques. In other medical disciplines, “medical improv,” an educational method derived from improvisational theatre, has been used to allow trainees to practice clinical skills without also having to focus on medical knowledge they've not yet mastered. The present study aims to investigate the acceptability of medical improv as an educational tool for genetic counseling students. Fourteen genetic counseling students and new genetic counselors completed a 2‐hr medical improv workshop and participated in follow‐up interviews to discuss the workshop. Participants’ responses to the intervention were positive, with 92.9% of participants responding that they would recommend medical improv training to other genetic counseling students. Participants described the medical improv workshop as helping build psychosocial skills in a safe environment, which may facilitate the use of more advanced counseling skills in clinical situations. By training students to practice psychosocial skills and building students’ confidence, medical improv may help genetic counseling students and genetic counselors be more effective in challenging clinical situations, and to feel more comfortable in experimenting with new ideas and psychosocial techniques in their clinical practice.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring a brief medical improvisational performing arts intervention for genetic counseling graduate students

Scherr

Fenter

et al. 2022

“…Novice students commonly lack confidence in their counseling skills and feel anxious in challenging situations (McCarthy Veach et al., 2018). Moreover, lack of confidence remains a prominent issue for novice genetic counselors (Ramachandra et al., 2019). While the Practice‐Based Competencies (PBCs; ACGC, 2019) highlight the need for use psychosocial skills (e.g., PBC 9 and 10), specific didactic opportunities around possible responses to strong patient emotions may assist in building student confidence and skills.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in genetic counseling student responses to intense patient affect: A study of students in North American programs

Keppers

Veach

Schema

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Research indicates genetic counseling patients often experience intense emotions. No studies, however, have investigated how genetic counseling students respond to patient affect. This survey study investigated student responses to patient emotions and select factors affecting their responses. One‐hundred fifty‐one genetic counseling students in North American programs wrote a response to each of three hypothetical prenatal scenarios, identical except for the patient affect expressed (anger, fear, or sadness). They also completed measures of empathy tendency and tolerance of negative affect and demographic questions. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), used to analyze the effects of major study variables on the types of responses given by participants, was significant. Follow‐up univariate ANCOVAs indicated small to moderate effect sizes for student clinical experience, race/ethnicity, and relationship status within and across scenarios. For example, as number of patients counseled increased, participants used more feeling reflections and fewer self‐involving statements. There were no significant differences in responses due to empathy tendency or affect tolerance. Most common responses were information provision and feeling reflections for the Anger scenario, information provision for the Fear scenario, and influencing responses for the Sadness scenario. Responses to each scenario typically involved multiple thoughts (range: 1–14; means ranged from 3.25 in the Sadness scenario to 3.62 in the Fear scenario). Most students (82%) reported the Anger scenario was the most difficult. Thematic analysis of reasons a scenario was difficult yielded four themes: Discomfort with situation/emotion, Positive countertransference, Uncertain how to respond, and Negative countertransference. Findings that clinical experience affects how participants responded to patient affect support the essential role of applied experience. Findings also support training and supervision to help genetic counseling students in North America learn ways to respond to strong patient emotions and recognize and manage countertransference.

“…Mentors were provided with articles about mentorship (Baktha Ramachandra et al, 2019; Burgess et al, 2018; Chopra et al, 2016; Cooke et al, 2017; Katan, 2019; Straus et al, 2013; Tjan, 2017), a PowerPoint, webinar, and podcast transcript about mentoring (Austin & Byrne, 2019; Baker et al, 1998; Liaquat & Wilson, 2019). They were also given information about supervisor strategies that can apply to mentorship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing a mentorship program for prospective genetic counseling graduate students: Two cycles of program experience

Watson

Moriarty

Burns

et al. 2023

Mentorship has been a long‐standing and important piece of healthcare training, but few formal, structured mentorship programs exist in the genetic counseling field. Our report describes the creation and evaluation of the Genetic Counseling Assistant Mentorship Program (GCAMP) after two cycles of the program. Genetic counseling assistant (GCA) mentees were paired with genetic counselor mentors for support and advice primarily surrounding graduate school applications and professional development. Pairs were encouraged to meet at regular intervals, but the specific meeting patterns were determined by the pair based on the needs of the mentee. The GCAMP also involved electronic and interactive resources for mentees, which were continually developed. Many of the electronic resources were created and maintained by past and current GCAs, such as a list of local shadowing and advocacy opportunities and a list of factors to consider when evaluating graduate programs. Interactive resources included workshops, mock graduate school interviews, reviews of graduate school application materials, and social events. Mentors were also provided with resources about mentorship. Surveys were conducted to evaluate the program. Overall satisfaction with the program and the mentoring relationship was high among both mentees and mentors. In aggregate, results revealed that mentees felt strongly supported by the mentorship program and were highly satisfied with their mentorship experience. Results also showed that mentors enjoyed a high level of fulfillment and professional development themselves by participating in the program.