An Internship in Genetic Counseling
Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
41
Start Date
4-5-2017 12:00 PM
End Date
4-5-2017 1:00 PM
Department
Biology
Abstract
An Internship in Genetic Counseling
I completed an internship with a genetic counselor at Centra in Lynchburg, Virginia from August to November 2016. I was able to observe at Stroobants Cardiovascular Center, as well as at Virginia Baptist Hospital in the perinatal clinic. During my internship, I learned about many genetic disorders and testing options for genetic conditions that I had never heard of before. Some of the more unusual conditions that I learned about included Marfan syndrome, pyruvate-carboxylase deficiencies, and spina bifida. I also learned about several technologies that are used to detect genetic conditions, and how these conditions can be treated. These technologies included the use of pharmacogenetic testing, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, as well as several forms of testing for pregnant women who may be carrying a child with a genetic condition. In completing my internship, I realized that many people do not know about the field of genetic counseling. In this poster presentation, I hope to help educate more people about this field.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Christine Terry
An Internship in Genetic Counseling
An Internship in Genetic Counseling
I completed an internship with a genetic counselor at Centra in Lynchburg, Virginia from August to November 2016. I was able to observe at Stroobants Cardiovascular Center, as well as at Virginia Baptist Hospital in the perinatal clinic. During my internship, I learned about many genetic disorders and testing options for genetic conditions that I had never heard of before. Some of the more unusual conditions that I learned about included Marfan syndrome, pyruvate-carboxylase deficiencies, and spina bifida. I also learned about several technologies that are used to detect genetic conditions, and how these conditions can be treated. These technologies included the use of pharmacogenetic testing, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, as well as several forms of testing for pregnant women who may be carrying a child with a genetic condition. In completing my internship, I realized that many people do not know about the field of genetic counseling. In this poster presentation, I hope to help educate more people about this field.