The Program

The Department of Genetic Counseling offers a Master of Science degree in Genetic Counseling through the College of Health Related Professions and the Graduate School at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and is the lead institution in the Mid-America Genetics Education Consortium (MAGEC): University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, University of Kansas Medical Center,  and University of Nebraska Medical Center. This unique educational consortium combines the academic and clinical resources of four major health science universities. The curriculum is designed to emphasize the principles of human genetics, the applicability of related sciences to human medical genetics, the principles and practice of medical genetics, the psychosocial, social, ethical, and legal aspects of delivering genetic services, and the teaching skills and research methods needed to promote the use of genetic services.




The "classroom" portion of several courses in the curriculum uses a variety of distance education methods.  Interactive video and Web-based lectures will be given both asynchronously and synchronously, depending on the material being presented.  Students will be able to access the asynchronous portions of the curriculum via the Internet at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences [UAMS] campus in Little Rock, via the University of Nebraska Medical Center [UNMC] campus in Omaha, or via their personal computers at home.  The asynchronous portion of the didactic program, however, comprises only a small portion of the curriculum.  The synchronous portions of the curriculum require attendance at the UAMS campus.  The clinical portion of the curriculum will takes place in a face-to-face ("live") format, and may require students to travel relatively short distance to complete the clinical rotations.

Practicums are an integral portion of this program. Clinical experiences will provide students with first-hand experiences with families affected by a broad range of genetic diseases and birth defects. There is a sufficient number and variety of clinical experiences to ensure that all students will receive adequate, supervised, genetic counseling experiences and help to prepare them for individual certification by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC). This clinical experience may be provided at one, some, or all of the major medical universities and associated clinics involved in the Consortium.

Specific Program Objectives:

• To create and provide appropriate instruction that allows students to comprehend the medical facts, including etiology, modes of inheritance, diagnosis, natural history, and management of a large number of genetic disorders and birth defects

• To construct course work material that provides students insight and practice in counseling theories, interviewing methods, family dynamics, crisis counseling, normal and pathological phases of grief, and the empowerment of clients

• To promote a learning environment that encourages students to pursue scholarly endeavors such as research, publication, education, and grant writing

• To allow students to analyze important sociologic, ethical, legal and public health issues that are specific to the fields of medical genetics and genetic counseling

• To encourage students to develop instructional skills that will allow them to help address the genetic educational needs of their medical and lay communities

• To foster clinical environments that allow students to interpret and disseminate this information to appropriately-referred patients who need genetic counseling, under the supervision of qualified genetic and other medical specialists

• To build and strengthen clinical environments that encourage students to utilize the psychosocial assessment tools that they have learned for the benefit of their patients/clients who need help understanding and adjusting to genetic diagnoses/test results

• To develop and sustain laboratory environments that assist the students in obtaining practical knowledge of the genetic tests that they discuss with patients/clients and their families

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