Initiative for Diverse Enrollment and Access (IDEA)

Changing the face of genetic counseling

At the University of Cincinnati, the Initiative for Diverse Enrollment and Access in genetic counseling (IDEA) wants to bring ambitious young people like you into a profession that values quality of life above all else. Today, the number of minority genetic counselors is far fewer than the number of minorities counselors serve. We need more minority practitioners who are better able and more likely to serve minority communities. Who understands your community better than you?

The following table shows which ethnic groups were represented in a 2006 survey of genetic counselors

Ethnicity	2006 N	2006 %
Caucasian	1117	91%
Asian	60	4.9%
Japanese	10	0.8%
Chinese	19	1.5%
Korean	4	0.3%
Southeast Asian	7	0.6%
Indian Subcontinent	20	1.6%
African-American	10	1%
Hispanic	25	2.0%
Philipino	3	0.2%
Puerto Rican	7	0.6%
Mexican American	4	0.3%
South American	5	0.4%
Other Hispanic	2	0.2%
Caribbean	4	0.3%
Native American	0	0%
Other	20	2%

Scholarships are available for minorities in genetic counseling

We have full scholarships available for underrepresented groups. In genetic counseling, that includes minorities and men. If you are accepted to the program and qualify for the Yates Scholarship, you'll receive full-tuition, a waiver of general fees, and a monthly stipend to pay for living expenses.

Diversifying our program and the profession

Nancy Warren, the director of genetic counseling at UC, recently received a $25,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to help diversify our program and the profession. With this grant, Warren and a group of Genetic Counseling program directors in the Midwest are developing a three-year regional plan to promote collaborative minority recruitment efforts and publish their outcomes.

Our goals are to

Increase the number of minority candidates who are interested in and prepared for admission to a genetic counseling graduate program; and to
Improve our understanding of and address the unique barriers to minority recruitment in the genetic counseling profession.

We hope that our IDEA will be a demonstration project that other universities can use to diversify their programs.

Teaching cultural competence

At UC, we recognize the importance of a diverse community and the challenges that go along with serving a diverse population. So, we prepare our counselors to work with people from all over the world, from varying ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds. As a student, you'll participate in research projects each quarter to learn more about ways of life different from your own. This year, each student researched a religion and a culture and presented to the class how that religion or culture relates to genetic counseling and healthcare. Speakers on cultural awareness also visit our program.

Reaching out to the local community

Our students speak in the community-at area high schools, community centers, nursing homes, and the like. Our counselors speak to high school students about what genetic counseling is and why students might be interested in a GC career. They also speak to the elderly to let them know the risks and treatments options available for diseases like Alzheimer's. They even go to their hometowns to speak in their own communities.

As a genetic counselor, you could help your uncle cope with Sickle Cell Anemia or explain the risk that your friend will get cancer because her mother had it.

Serve the people in your community. Master a unique science. Become a respected leader. Be an innovator. Be a genetic counselor.

Apply to UC's program today.

Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling
College of Allied Health Sciences
University of Cincinnati
P0 Box 670394
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0394
(513) 636-8448 (phone)
(513) 636-0543 (fax)
GCPROG@CHMCC.ORG