Fact Sheet for the NSGC

Purpose

• The NSGC promotes the genetic counseling profession as a recognized and integral part of healthcare delivery, education, research and public policy.
• The NSGC is the leading voice, authority and advocate for the genetic counseling profession.

Members

• Approximately 2,000 genetic counselors are members of the NSGC.
• Genetic counselors work in clinical environments (hospitals, medical practices, universities), in corporations (pharmaceutical firms, genetic testing companies), health maintenance organizations and in independent practices as counselors to patients, medical practices and health care companies.
• Genetic counselors work as members of a health care team, providing information and support to families concerned about birth defects or genetic disorders and to families who may be at risk for a variety of inherited conditions.
• Genetic counselors also provide supportive counseling to families, serve as patient advocates and refer individuals and families to community or state support services. They serve as educators and consultants to other health care professionals. Some counselors also work in administrative capacities. Many engage in research activities related to the field of medical genetics and genetic counseling.
• One third to one-half of NSGC's members work in adult genetics, e.g., oncology, cardiology, neurology, psychiatry.

Return to top

Qualifications

• Genetic counselors have specialized graduate degrees and experience in the areas of medical genetics and counseling. Most enter the field from any of a variety of disciplines, including biology, genetics, nursing, psychology, public health or social work.

Return to top

Who sees a genetic counselor?

• Individuals and their family members who are concerned about the risks for either passing along or developing inherited diseases, themselves, may contact genetic counselors.
• Early in this specialization, families would meet with a genetic counselor only when considering having children, or after having a child with a condition thought to have a genetic cause. Now, genetic science enables us to identify factors that might lead to adult-onset diseases such as colon, prostate, ovarian and breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease, increasing the number of patients who might seek genetic counseling.

Return to top

How does genetic counseling relate to genetic testing, gene therapy or cloning?

• Genetic tests are sometimes offered by a genetic counselor when a patient's family genetic history suggests potential risks for certain conditions. Often, a review of family genetic histories will indicate that a genetic test does not need to be conducted.
• Involvement of a genetic counselor as a first step can reduce health care costs significantly and provide a more comprehensive look at a patient's genetic history. A genetic counseling session may cost approximately $200 and examine a broad range of disorders. A genetic test might cost ten times that amount and be limited to testing for a single gene.
• Genetic counseling is a process in which a genetic counselor educates families or individuals about their risk of passing on a genetic predisposition for certain disorders or of having inherited a disorder themselves. Gene therapy is the highly technical science of altering genes. For example, genetic technologies have recently led to a new treatment for hereditary immune deficiencies using gene therapy. Genetic counselors may discuss gene therapy in specific disorders, but they are not the professionals who conduct research or carry out the process.
• Cloning is a laboratory procedure of duplicating cells. It is not available clinically, and genetic counselors are not involved in the process of cloning.

Return to top

Finding a genetic counselor

The NSGC website offers an extensive listing of genetic counselors both in the U.S. and around the world. These counselors can be found through searches by geography, last name or institution. Visit NSGC's ResourceLink page to find a counselor near you.

Return to top

Return to News Room