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What Do Genetic Counselors Learn on the Job? A Qualitative Assessment of Professional Development Outcomes
Author(s) -
Runyon Marie,
Zahm Kimberly W.,
Veach Patricia McCarthy,
MacFarlane Ian M.,
LeRoy Bonnie S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1007/s10897-010-9289-x
Subject(s) - genetic counseling , intrapersonal communication , professional development , medical education , psychology , interpersonal communication , qualitative research , medicine , demographics , nursing , social psychology , social science , genetics , sociology , biology , demography
Abstract Professional development is an important goal for professionals in human service fields such as counseling, teaching, and nursing. However, there are relatively few published papers on this topic specific to genetic counselors, and no studies systematically examine the outcomes of their professional development. This study was designed to investigate genetic counselors’ perceptions of their post‐degree learning and to compare themes in their learning to those of psychotherapist professional development models. Two hundred ninety‐three genetic counselors completed the demographics portion of an anonymous online survey, and of these, 185 also responded to at least one of two open‐ended items: What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself in your practice as a genetic counselor? and What advice would you give to genetic counseling students just starting their career? An interpretative content‐analysis method was used to extract three major themes: Intrapersonal lessons, Interpersonal lessons, and Professional lessons . Training and practice implications and research recommendations are provided.