According to the American Board of Genetic Counseling, continuing education in genetic counseling is an ongoing process consisting of formal learning activities that:
- Are relevant to genetic counseling practice, education and science.
- Enable genetic counselors to keep pace with the most current scientific evidence regarding clinical practice and education as well as important legal, professional or regulatory issues.
- Allow genetic counselors to maintain, develop and increase competencies in order to improve services to the public and enhance contributions to the profession.
Category 1 CEUs: Category 1 CEUs can be granted for educational programs with content targeted to genetic counselors and pre-approved by an ABGC approved genetic counseling CEU provider.
Category 2 CEUs: Category 2 CEUs can be granted for educational programs with content that is relevant to a genetic counselor’s continuing education despite not being primarily designed with the continuing education of a genetic counselor in mind. Category 2 CEUs are only available for educational programs that have been approved to offer continuing education credits or units by a reputable non-genetic counseling CEU provider.
Conflict of Interest (COI): ABGC defines conflict of interest (COI) as a situation in which a financial, professional and/or personal affiliation has the potential to compromise an educator’s judgment and may potentially bias a person’s ability to objectively plan, implement, or review educational content. A conflict of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived. A perceived conflict of interest should be treated the same as if a conflict of interest actually exists. Financial Conflict of Interest may include but is not limited to a wage, salary, contractor, consulting or speaking fee, teaching pay, honoraria, ownership interest, membership on advisory committee, review panel, board or other activity from which a financial benefit is expected. Professional Conflict of Interest may include but is not limited to a situation where an individual receives a contract or a grant, manages funds, is a principal investigator, or is in a position to influence the outcomes of research. Personal Conflict of Interest may include but is not limited to a financial relationship held by one’s spouse/partner or any of the relationships mentioned above.
Continuing Education (CEU) Provider: An organization or group who is responsible for the evaluation of educational programs to determine if they are CEU-eligible, and, if so, how many CEUs attendees may obtain for attending or participating in the program. Currently the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) is the sole CEU Provider.
Program Planner: The individual who is the lead planner and responsible for content development of a continuing educational program and verifying that the educational content meets ABGC’s Content Outline domains and is relevant to the practice of genetic counseling. Typically, this role is occupied by a certified genetic counselor (CGC). In some cases, other professionals with relevant experience or expertise may serve as the program planner.
Continuing Education Unit (CEU): CEU is a standard unit of measurement for continuing education and training. It is awarded for participation in an organized continuing education program. One CEU is equivalent to 10 educational contact hours.
Learning Assessment: A learning assessment is typically designed to measure specific elements of learning and often refers to strategies designed to confirm the knowledge an attendee gained by participating in the educational program. Learning assessment should also demonstrate whether attendees have met the stated learning objectives.
Program Evaluation: Program evaluation is a systematic method for collecting and analyzing information about an educational program’s effectiveness and efficiency with regard to meeting its stated goals.