Genetic Counselling

Jordan Clayton

English 1102

Essay I

30 August 2013

Title

        In the July 2011 online article, Reported Referral of Genetic Counseling or BRCA ½ Testing Among United States Physicians, Katrina Trivers, Laura-Mae Baldwin, Jacquelyn Miller, and various others examine how qualified physicians are in the genetic counseling field and observe how often genetic counseling is being used today. The article used 3000 physicians for its study, sending out a booklet survey with different substantial questions to see which physicians were more qualified and who had a better understanding of the subject. The authors survey questions were used to weed out physicians who were under-qualified for the study. The outcome of this study was broad and its conclusion stated that a very low number of physicians are comfortable referring patients to genetic counselors.

        As researchers learned more about diseases and how they run in families’ the authors discovered a method for prevention: genetic counseling. Genetic counseling is a prevention method that is commonly used when a family member develops a disease. These counselors meet with families and show them who are at risk in their family for which diseases. They first go through and evaluate the family tree to see what diseases run in the family. After they have done this and can assess the possible risks they offer the families some options. They can have tests done to see if the patients are carrying a genetic mutation that will later cause a disease, and then discuss how to reduce their risk. Though these counselors do not offer medications or long term care, they do explain everything to the families in detail and help them better understand the disease they may or may not carry.

The authors of this article made a twelve-page survey to determine which physicians would make better studies for their research. Each survey contained different questions, used to test what these physicians and doctors knew about the theory of genetic counseling. The questions asked were focused around how often patients were referred, who was screened and tested for ovarian cancer and questions of family history. The authors then reviewed the surveys and determined who was better qualified for their study. The majority of the physicians they chose were OB/GYNs. This was noted repeatedly in the 20011 articles. OB/GYNs were observed to be more comfortable referring patients to the genetic counselors in most cases. Statistics showed that the reason for OB/GYNs referring more patients was because they had better training in genetics. The results of the authors study were that it is hard to know if physicians are referring people and following the right lines. They stressed how not many know the right information for the fields that are out there.