Mid-America Genetic Education Consortium:

It’s MAGEC!

The Mid-America Genetic Education Consortium (MAGEC), funded by a U.S. Congressionally-directed grant, created an interactive, distance learning program to educate genetic counselors. MAGEC is in the UAMS College of Health Related Professions’ Department of Genetic Counseling, which offers a Master of Science degree in genetic counseling.  We aim to increase access for minority and rural students to a genetic counseling education program, as well as share academic and genetic resources in our underserved region. 

MAGEC and the graduate study program are coordinated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), using additional educational resources from Kansas, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).  Students who are residents of Arkansas, Kansas, and Nebraska will receive their degree from UAMS, and students who are residents of Oklahoma only participate in the online courses taught by OUHSC faculty and receive their degree from OUHSC. 

As a new program we are accredited with provisional accreditation by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.  We are matriculating our first students in the fall of 2006 and they will graduate in the spring of 2008.  At that time we anticipate full accreditation. 

Eighteen “lecture” classes (45 credit hours) are taught by faculty at UNMC, OUHSC, and UAMS to students who are located in Arkansas, Kansas, and Nebraska.  Each state’s academic medical institution is responsible for offering the one laboratory and six clinical practicums (15 credit hours) for the students residing in each respective state.

The mission of the Consortium is the following:

(1)   provide quality education that includes both synchronous and asynchronous instruction, some via distance learning given the fact that faculty are drawn from each of the MAGEC consortium states;

(2)   provide a high quality infrastructure by maintaining a state of the art web-based delivery system that is available to all members;

(3)   award the master of science degree in genetic counseling following completion of both asynchronous and synchronous coursework, as well as completion of valued clinical rotations;

(4)   recruit rural and minority students, and retain such graduates in this region of the country;

(5)   insure the quality of the distance learning products and services through rigorous assessment efforts including the implementation of an assessment program, which will adhere to guidelines set forth by the American Board of Genetic Counseling;

(6)   provide a forum for discussion of distance learning in genetic counseling education and the demonstration of new techniques for asynchronous delivery;

(7)   provide further faculty development opportunities.

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