How practical experiences, educational routes and multidisciplinary teams influence genetic counsellors’ clinical practice in Europe

Abstract

The main objective of our study was to explore whether, and to what extent, genetic counsellors' characteristics impact on their tasks in practice. Specifically, we explored the complementariness between genetic counsellors and medical geneticists and therefore looked at the most relevant tasks of genetic counsellors, according to genetic counsellors themselves and according to the medical geneticists they work with. 104 genetic counsellors and 29 medical geneticists from 15 countries completed a purposefully designed questionnaire. Results showed that most genetic counsellors in Europe perform similar tasks, irrespective of their backgrounds. When looking at the factors influencing genetic counsellors' roles data showed that the type of tasks performed by genetic counsellors is associated with the years of experience in the field, not with their background or education. Of particular interest was the consensus between genetic counsellors and medical geneticists regarding the genetic counsellor's role. Not surprisingly, tasks with more psychosocial implications were seen as genetic counsellors' eligibility while tasks with more medical implications were seen as medical geneticists' attribution. Our study shows that most genetic counsellors work in tune with international recommendations and seem to be supportive of multidisciplinary teams. Corroborating our data with previous research, we discuss potential implications for practice and training in genetic counselling.

To explore whether and to what extent, genetic counsellors' characteristics have an impact on their tasks in practice at European genetic services.A total of 104 genetic counsellors and 29 medical geneticists from 15 countries completed a purposefully designed questionnaire in this quantitative study.Most genetic counsellors in Europe perform similar tasks, irrespective of their backgrounds.The type and volume of tasks performed by genetic counsellors is not associated with their background or education, but with the years of experience in the field.Although many tasks related to genetic counselling can be performed by either medical geneticists and genetic counsellors, the care of patients in clinical genetics settings could improve by the complementariness within teams, where tasks with more psychological implications should be the responsibilities of genetic counsellors whereas tasks with more medical implications is the medical geneticists contribution.

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