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
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Liaison Activity
Following is an update of recent events where I had the opportunity to represent the NSGC. The first meeting occurred on June 8th and 9th at the NIH in Bethesda entitled “Developing a Blueprint for Primary Care Physician Education in Genomic Medicine”. This meeting was spearheaded by Alan Guttmacher,MD, Acting Director of the NHGRI and W. Greg Feero, MD, PhD, the senior advisor to the Director for Genomic Medicine. This meeting had several co-sponsors including; ACHDNC, CDC, HRSA, NCI, NHGRI, NHLBI, ORDR and NNSGRC. This was an invitational meeting which proposed a work product that would be a 5 year blueprint for improving primary care clinician literacy in genetics and genomics.
Those in attendance included representatives from ACMG, AMA, ACP, AOA, ACPM, AAFP, PAEA, STFM, AACOM, SGIM, AAP, ACOG, in addition to several academic institutions as well as representatives from the above mentioned sponsors. It was a great opportunity to be at the table during such a critical juncture of health care decision making. The meeting began by focusing on the current landscape of primary care education in genetics and genomics from the perspectives of genetics, primary care and academic medical communities. We then identified the core education needs in genetics and genomics as defined by the primary care communities. We also indentified the opportunities and barriers that face efforts to enhance primary care provider literacy and proposed some concrete strategies to take advantage of existing opportunities for genetics/genomics education at various stages of primary care physician education. There was a separate focus on undergraduate medical education, resident training and practicing physicians to ensure the best chance for successful implementation. The importance of the role genetic counselors will play was shared by the participants and our opinions were highly valued.
Following the conclusion of this meeting, I flew to Boston (I won’t go into the details of the 3 hour delay at Dulles airport) to speak at the first Consumer Genetics Show. This was a show that focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) testing and the latest advances in genomic medicine. There were many very high profile speakers and it was an honor to be included to represent the views of our profession. There were 200 plus attendees at this meeting including several genetic counselors. The attendees were a mix of mostly clinicians and industry representatives with some others representing the financial sector and a small number of actual consumers. I spoke about the “View from the Genetic Counselors” regarding our perspectives on DTC testing. I focused on our background and training and highlighted our expertise in dealing with complex genetic issues. One issue of emphasis was the importance of integrating one’s family history into all testing scenarios and stressed how without taking family history into account, patients could undergo undo harm. I also had time to address our new strategic plan and state our goal of preparing our members for the changing landscape of healthcare in addition to educating our members about the latest technologies so we would be in a position to be among the leaders of implementing genomic medicine across the healthcare spectrum.
It was a great opportunity to meet some of the people in industry as well as have a chance to learn about the great things some of members are pursuing. It was a great opportunity to represent our field in such a positive way to some of the people on the cutting edge of technology and medicine.
Those in attendance included representatives from ACMG, AMA, ACP, AOA, ACPM, AAFP, PAEA, STFM, AACOM, SGIM, AAP, ACOG, in addition to several academic institutions as well as representatives from the above mentioned sponsors. It was a great opportunity to be at the table during such a critical juncture of health care decision making. The meeting began by focusing on the current landscape of primary care education in genetics and genomics from the perspectives of genetics, primary care and academic medical communities. We then identified the core education needs in genetics and genomics as defined by the primary care communities. We also indentified the opportunities and barriers that face efforts to enhance primary care provider literacy and proposed some concrete strategies to take advantage of existing opportunities for genetics/genomics education at various stages of primary care physician education. There was a separate focus on undergraduate medical education, resident training and practicing physicians to ensure the best chance for successful implementation. The importance of the role genetic counselors will play was shared by the participants and our opinions were highly valued.
Following the conclusion of this meeting, I flew to Boston (I won’t go into the details of the 3 hour delay at Dulles airport) to speak at the first Consumer Genetics Show. This was a show that focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) testing and the latest advances in genomic medicine. There were many very high profile speakers and it was an honor to be included to represent the views of our profession. There were 200 plus attendees at this meeting including several genetic counselors. The attendees were a mix of mostly clinicians and industry representatives with some others representing the financial sector and a small number of actual consumers. I spoke about the “View from the Genetic Counselors” regarding our perspectives on DTC testing. I focused on our background and training and highlighted our expertise in dealing with complex genetic issues. One issue of emphasis was the importance of integrating one’s family history into all testing scenarios and stressed how without taking family history into account, patients could undergo undo harm. I also had time to address our new strategic plan and state our goal of preparing our members for the changing landscape of healthcare in addition to educating our members about the latest technologies so we would be in a position to be among the leaders of implementing genomic medicine across the healthcare spectrum.
It was a great opportunity to meet some of the people in industry as well as have a chance to learn about the great things some of members are pursuing. It was a great opportunity to represent our field in such a positive way to some of the people on the cutting edge of technology and medicine.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Core Skills of Genetic Counselors
At the NSGC Strategic Planning meeting held in August of 2006, the Board had a discussion about the importance of identifying the core skills possessed by genetic counselors that translate into a variety of professional roles and settings. The strategic initiative stated: “Position Genetic Counselors as key players in the integration of genetics across the healthcare spectrum”. An item to accomplish this was given as:
“Identify and promote the core skills of Genetic Counselors to support the development of new professional roles.
The intention for developing this initiative was that core skills, once identified, could then be used to help promote genetic counselors, and to support the efforts of NSGC members to pursue varied and diverse roles within healthcare, industry, and the many other settings in which NSGC members work now, and may work in the future as genetics and genomics continues to evolve.
A Core Skills Task Force was established. This Task Force reviewed reference materials and conducted telephone interviews with genetic counselors practicing in various roles in both clinical and non-clinical settings. This research produced a listing of core and additional genetic counseling skills (a comprehensive skill chart is attached). In summary, the Task Force identified six key areas of skills that are translatable to a variety of work settings and, taken together, differentiate genetic counselors from other health professionals. Detail on these skills and how genetic counselors use these skills to benefit potential employers and audiences is available in the summary of the Task Force report that is posted on the NSGC website at
http://www.nsgc.org/career/.
I encourage all NSGC members to utilize this information as you talk with your current and potential employers about the diverse skills you possess as a genetic counselor. It is our hope that this report and the recommendations for continuing education will allow NSGC to support our membership in expanding into new and exciting areas of employment. We can provide some of the tools but it is still up to each individual to market themselves as best they can.
On behalf of the Board and the membership of NSGC, I would like to thank the members of the Core Skill Task Force:
Kristin Baker Niendorf, MS, CGC, Chair
Amelia Chappelle, MS
Michelle Fox, MS, CGC
Elizabeth Kearney, MS, MBA, CGC
Caroline Lieber, MS, CGC
Bronson Riley, MS, CGC
-Steven Keiles, MS
“Identify and promote the core skills of Genetic Counselors to support the development of new professional roles.
The intention for developing this initiative was that core skills, once identified, could then be used to help promote genetic counselors, and to support the efforts of NSGC members to pursue varied and diverse roles within healthcare, industry, and the many other settings in which NSGC members work now, and may work in the future as genetics and genomics continues to evolve.
A Core Skills Task Force was established. This Task Force reviewed reference materials and conducted telephone interviews with genetic counselors practicing in various roles in both clinical and non-clinical settings. This research produced a listing of core and additional genetic counseling skills (a comprehensive skill chart is attached). In summary, the Task Force identified six key areas of skills that are translatable to a variety of work settings and, taken together, differentiate genetic counselors from other health professionals. Detail on these skills and how genetic counselors use these skills to benefit potential employers and audiences is available in the summary of the Task Force report that is posted on the NSGC website at
http://www.nsgc.org/career/.
I encourage all NSGC members to utilize this information as you talk with your current and potential employers about the diverse skills you possess as a genetic counselor. It is our hope that this report and the recommendations for continuing education will allow NSGC to support our membership in expanding into new and exciting areas of employment. We can provide some of the tools but it is still up to each individual to market themselves as best they can.
On behalf of the Board and the membership of NSGC, I would like to thank the members of the Core Skill Task Force:
Kristin Baker Niendorf, MS, CGC, Chair
Amelia Chappelle, MS
Michelle Fox, MS, CGC
Elizabeth Kearney, MS, MBA, CGC
Caroline Lieber, MS, CGC
Bronson Riley, MS, CGC
-Steven Keiles, MS
Thursday, May 14, 2009
NSGC 2010 - 2012 Strategic Plan
Welcome to the future of NSGC communication. Our intention is to utilize the NSGC blog as a way to get information to our membership in a timely fashion while allowing us to quickly respond to other relevant issues that affect the genetic counseling profession. Another advantage is this blog becomes searchable by outside organizations giving us additional opportunities for proactive messaging to both the mainstream media and the general public.
This will not be a traditional blog in that comments will not be directly posted to this site. However, I do encourage comments and appropriate comments may be summarized and posted as a representation of the responses. The main intention for this blog is to serve as an additional communication tool for the NSGC leadership. So in that light, on behalf of the NSGC board of directors, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce NSGC’s 2010-2012 Strategic Plan. This plan is a result of significant input from NSGC’s membership, external stakeholders, committed volunteers and the Board of Directors.
Work on this plan began in fall 2008 with visioning focus groups held during and after the 2008 Annual Education Conference (AEC) in Los Angeles. These focus groups brought together members and external stakeholders to provide input on the landscape for genetics and genomics in the next several years and what NSGC needs to do to prepare our members for this future.
Following completion of the focus groups, the major themes that emerged from these discussions were used to develop the NSGC Vision Survey that was distributed in January 2009 to the full membership. Over 450 of you shared your thoughts about future priorities for NSGC and genetic counselors through this survey.
The focus group and survey information was provided as background to the Board of Directors along with representatives from ABGC, ACMG, ISONG and the Genetic Counseling Foundation who participated in the strategic planning process. The Board and organizational representatives went through a facilitated day-long session that resulted in development of a draft of the plan we are sharing with you today. The Board then continued to discuss and refine the plan, resulting in this final version.
The strategic initiatives as outlined in the plan will be used as a basis for our annual plan of work and charges to NSGC’s committees. This is an ambitious plan that will require significant financial resources along with substantial involvement by our members in all areas of NSGC. As a reminder this is not an absolute plan, but a living document that can be modified over the coming years should the landscape dictate the need change.
The Board appreciates your involvement in this process and we look forward to working with you on these strategic initiatives over the next three years.
To view the 2010-2012 Strategic Plan, please visit:
www.nsgc.org/client_files/about/NSGC_Strategic_Plan2010.pdf
Steven Keiles, MS
NSGC President
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