Teratogen Training in Graduate Programs and Its Impact on Genetic Counselors’ Perceived Preparedness

Lamia Haque, BS (Advisor: Myla Ashfaq, MS, CGC)

           This study identified curriculum components of teratogen training in genetic counseling graduate programs and explores how prepared genetic counselors (GCs) felt to provide teratogen counseling at the start of their careers. GCs who graduated between 2021 to 2025 from a GC program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling and have professional experience providing teratogen counseling (TC) completed an online survey. Author-designed survey questions elicited information on demographics, didactic and clinical rotation components of their graduate program’s teratogen training, depth of training on teratogen counseling topics and skills, and self-perceived preparedness levels to counsel about those topics and utilize those skills. All respondents received teratogen training. Those who received a teratogen course or multiple lectures, felt more prepared than those who had a single lecture (p< 0.001). Those who received clinical training (p = 0.004), had a variety of clinical training opportunities (p = 0.004), and encountered teratogen counseling indications in more than one rotation (p = 0.006) reported significantly greater mean preparedness scores. The top three topics that GCs felt most prepared to counsel about were critical periods of development, alcohol, and maternal diabetes (mean scores: 3.43, 3.39, 3.30, respectively). The three topics that GCs felt the least prepared to counsel about were COVID- 19 vaccine, cold medications, and dietary supplements (mean scores: 2.11, 2.09, 2.04, respectively). The skill they felt most prepared for was 'addressing psychosocial issues that may potentially arise in TC' (mean: 3.3) and the least prepared for was 'documenting TC encounters' (mean: 2.85). As reported by graduates from 2021 to 2025, variability exists in teratogen training across programs, and teratogen training strongly influenced teratogen counseling preparedness. Participants reported low preparedness levels for half of the teratogen counseling topics inquired about, highlighting the current gaps in teratogen training and the importance of more in-depth and frequent didactic training.

Advisory Committee:

• Myla Ashfaq, MS, CGC, Chair
• Kate Richardson, MS, CGC
• Sophia Bradley Kulkarni, MS, CGC
• Syed S. Hashmi, MD, MPH, PhD
• Claire Singletary, MS, CGC

Join via Microsoft Teams (Please contact Ms. Haque for her Teams meeting info.)