Counsels patients and referring physicians regarding risks to pregnancy due to such factors as family history, genetic disease, age, and exposure to teratogenic agents in order to explain benefits, risks, and limitations of various prenatal diagnosis testing, and to provide appropriate follow-up to referring physicians and patients.
- Meets directly with patients to review family history and hereditary risks; counsels patients regarding pregnancy risks due to factors such as maternal age, positive prenatal screening results, family history and exposure to teratogenic agents.
- Explains prenatal genetic screening and diagnostic testing, their benefits, risks and limitations to patients.
- Offers and/or orders appropriate genetic tests.
- Provides consultation to physicians regarding prenatal testing, research and explanation of various genetic conditions, and information about teratogens; discusses prognosis and management options with the patient and primary caregiver; provides summaries of consultations and recommendations to the primary caregiver.
- Assists maternal-fetal medicine physicians by coordinating prenatal diagnosis procedures.
- Provides in-office and phone support to patients and referring providers when abnormal ultrasound findings have been identified; coordinates additional testing and outside referral and research for individual cases.
- Provides consultation and counseling by phone regarding risks of drugs, medications, and other potential teratogens.
- Coordinates genetic tests with other centers and labs as necessary; arranges the handling and shipping of human samples to outside labs; coordinates billing and insurance authorization for this genetic testing; coordinates testing of patient’s family members.
- Provides follow-up to referring physicians and patients regarding results of prenatal tests; calls patients with normal and abnormal amniocentesis results and provides follow-up counseling.
- Acts as a resource for physicians who have questions about the indications for various prenatal diagnosis tests.
- Provides community education about genetic counseling and related information. Provides services to WHA to facilitate program development and expansion of the genetic program. Maintains on-going outreach education and research to solidify the referral base and raise awareness of WHA’s genetic program.
- Engages and participates in research projects as appropriate.
- Assesses psychosocial and ethical issues.
- Provides grief and crisis counseling as appropriate.
- Assists in scheduling patients for CVS testing as indicated.
- Assists in scheduling terminations for patients with abnormal results.
- Gathers information for patient support groups, specialized laboratories and literature updates.
- Maintains extensive patient resource file for rare genetic diseases.
- Provides timely dictation of chart notes and completes medical records within standards set by WHA.
- Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from a program accredited by the American Board of Genetic Counselors, required.
- Board certification from or board eligibility with the American Board of Medical Genetics or the American Board of Genetic Counselors required.
- Prior work experience as a Genetic Counselor in a Maternal Fetal Medicine medical group setting, preferred.
