Judith Tsipis, Director

Welcome to the website for the Genetic Counseling Program at Brandeis University. Thank you for taking the time to explore all that our program has to offer.

It is with a renewed sense of purpose that we enter the 18th year of Brandeis' Genetic Counseling Program – and my 18th year as Director of the program I helped start it back in 1992. While many things have changed, our priorities remain the same: providing students with a first class education in both the classroom and the clinic; empowering students with the skills that will allow them to grow and adapt along with the demands of the profession; and increasing students’ exposure and commitment to working with children and adults with disabilities.

Our alums now work all over the world. Five of our 2009 graduates have jobs in California, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii and  Utah and one of our earliest graduates is now practicing in New  Mexico. Overall, our students cover 17 states and five countries (US,  Canada, England, Israel and Germany). Now that licensure has been approved in  Massachusetts, one of our alums has established a private practice. In addition to counseling patients, she is actively involved in  facilitating support groups.

And, since I’m boasting about our alums, four will be speaking at this year’s National Society of Genetic Counseling Annual Education Conference. Two will be presenting their thesis research, one will address expanding the diagnosis for mitochondrial disease in a Pre-Conference Symposia and another will lead an Educational Breakout Session on adoption in the genetic counseling setting. And yet another alum was featured in a local newspaper article, “On the Job” where she details what a genetic counselor is and gives examples of everyday situations she encounters.

We are also delighted that after many years of enduring less than ideal facilities, the Brandeis  Genetic Counseling Program is now housed in a lovely suite consisting  of a comfortable reception area; a large conference room equipped with state-of-the-art audio/visual equipment; six offices for faculty and staff; a “real” kitchen; a spacious Commons area for students; and a classroom that comfortably seats 14. Our new space is centrally located on the Brandeis campus and we are next to the new Shapiro Science Center and conveniently located across the hall from the Graduate Student Study Lounge. 

I look forward to another interesting and challenging year and to working closely with both the students and program faculty – all in the comfort of our wonderful new home.

Gretchen Schneider, Co-director, Clinical Placements

I am happy to have completed my first year as Co-Director of Clinical Training for the Genetic Counseling Program here at Brandeis.  While stepping into this role was very challenging, it was made easier by the incredible support from both the faculty and students.   This type of environment has always been a defining feature of the Brandeis Program, and one of the many reasons I am so pleased to be here.

As the field continues to grow and change, I am impressed with how this program is able to respond by modifying its curricula to continuously improve the education of our students.  In the past year, we added a case presentation format to our spring journal club, expanded our coverage of cancer and metabolism in our clinical genetics course and introduced new topics including the genetics of infertility and computerized cancer risk assessment to our seminar for the second year class.  And after our end-of-year faculty retreat, we generated a new list of ideas and topic changes to be incorporated into the program in the next few years.  This illustrates the program’s ongoing commitment to providing our students with the strongest educational opportunities.

This year has brought some important milestones for the profession, both nationally and on a more local level.  The first cycle of a yearly certification exam for genetic counselors has been completed.    The exam is now being offered in a single test format, with content based on an extensive practice analysis of the profession in an effort to better assess the skills unique to genetic counselors during the certification process.     And locally, Massachusetts genetic counselors achieved an amazing goal by enacting licensure in January, 2009. It is incredible to see the realization of this dream which began numerous years ago and has involved countless hours of dedication by those determined to see licensure approved in our state.  Currently there are 86 fully licensed and 28 provisionally licensed genetic counselors that practice and reside not only in Massachusetts but in neighboring states as well. 

It is so exciting to see how the profession, as well as the training of future genetic counselors, has evolved over my professional career.  I look forward to playing an active role in the continued transformation as a member of the Brandeis genetic counseling program.

Beth Rosen Sheidley, Co-Director, Research and Professional Development

It is difficult to believe that is has been fifteen years since I graduated from the Brandeis Genetic Counseling Program as a member of the first class of 1994, and began my professional journey that spanned 3 cities and 4 genetic counseling positions before returning to Brandeis in 2005 to join the faculty. Looking back on the last 4 years as a faculty member in the Genetic Counseling Program, I am amazed at how the Program has grown and changed since it began in 1992, at the educational opportunities afforded to its students, and at the accomplishments of its graduates.

And yet, I am also pleased to find that at its core, the Brandeis Program remains what I remembered it to be: a program that puts an emphasis on exploring all perspectives, including those of individuals and families living with disability and chronic illness. Throughout their training, Brandeis students learn directly from those dealing with disability and illness. They work with disabled children and meet with adults and families living with disabilities in both institutional and home settings, and participate in social activities as well. We also invite speakers to campus to share their personal stories. For example, the spring semester of 2009 featured a mother of 3 children with autism spectrum disorders, a mother of a child with mitochondrial disease, and a woman with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer.  Each of these women spoke candidly of their experiences and left lasting impressions on the students and faculty.

This past year has also been a reminder to me of the importance of counseling skills that students learn while students in the Brandeis Program.  The experience of having a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a family friend commit suicide, and yet another friend newly pregnant after having a near full term baby die – all have brought to mind many of the lessons I learned and that our students continue to learn, about empathy, about grief, about ambivalence, about chronic sorrow. These lessons are invaluable in the professional lives of genetic counselors, and often in their personal lives as well.  This year, one student has chosen to focus her master’s thesis on the grief process. Through interviews with genetic counselors, she will explore how personal experiences with grief have impacted their interactions with patients.  Her research, and that of the rest of the Class of 2010 will no doubt influence the field of genetic counseling, as has been the case with research performed by students before them.  A 2008 graduate published her research findings in the Annals of Oncology, and our most recently graduated Class of 2009 earned the distinction of a 100% acceptance rate for abstracts submitted to the National Society of Genetic Counselors Annual Education Conference, scheduled to take place in Atlanta in November of this year.

Finally, this year was a watershed moment in the professional lives of genetic counselors living in Massachusetts, as licensing of genetic counselors in the Commonwealth became a reality in February of 2009.  From a brainstorming meeting of 2 genetic counselors over dinner in 2001, to the creation of a task force on licensure in Massachusetts, to the writing of legislation and lobbying at the Massachusetts State House, our success in obtaining licensure for genetic counselors in Massachusetts is testament in and of itself to what genetic counselors can do when they put their minds to something and work collectively.  I am very much looking forward to seeing the many ways in which the professions grows and changes over the coming years.