No Summer Lull for NSGC

I hope the summer has been a relaxing one for all of you. It has been a busy one for NSGC. Here is a recap of the recent happenings. In July, both myself and our president elect Liz Kearney attended the Genetic Alliance Day on the Hill. We had an opportunity to lobby Senators Boxer and Feinstein from California as well as Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House. Our agenda included increased access to genetic counseling services which is one of the key issues of our organization as well. As many of you know we will be introducing a bill in to Congress that helps address this issue. Once our sponsor has been identified, we will be looking to our membership to come together on a grassroots level and help our Public Policy Committee see this bill through into law.

The NSGC Public Policy Committee works to monitor and respond to policy issues related to genetic counseling and healthcare and to ensure the genetic counseling profession is a recognized and integral part of the healthcare system. To keep you updated on recent issues, the Public Policy Committee has started a blog. The link is http://nsgcpublicpolicy.blogspot.com/ Check the blog frequently for news and analysis of issues important to genetic counselors.

Following our day on Capitol Hill, we attended the Genetic Alliance conference with its theme of Discovering Openness in Health Systems. I presented a workshop with Wendy Koziol from our public relations firm, PCI, and Alice Lara, President & CEO at Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation. The session focused on dealing with all of the different forms of media as an organization. It was very well received and also provided us with some useful information we can utilize within NSGC. There were many great educational presentations to attend and numerous opportunities to catch up with the many genetic counselor colleagues that were present. If you want more information, check out the program.

Last week both Liz Kearney and I had to the opportunity to attend a leadership forum sponsored and funded by our management company SmithBucklin. The fact that this was sponsored by SmithBucklin speaks volumes as to their commitment to their clients and it was certainly appreciated by both Liz and I. This was an incredible opportunity to network with other association leaders and also to learn the latest trends in associations in our current economy. There was some excellent information about social media and how it is being used and received by associations and its members. Stay tuned for more information about how NSGC will provide additional communication both with its members and to the community as a whole.

Steven Keiles
NSGC President