Genetic Counselors
On the Job
Genetic Counselors assess individuals' or families' risk for certain conditions, such as genetic disorders or birth defects. They advise families to help them make informed decisions about what to do about their risk of illness. They may also do research.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
- Explain medical procedures or test results to patients or family members.
- Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
- Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
- Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
- Gather medical information from patient histories.
- Prepare healthcare training materials.
- Prepare reports summarizing patient diagnostic or care activities.
- Record patient medical histories.
- Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having telephone conversations.
- Using e-mail.
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- The importance of being accurate or exact.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Sitting.
- Dealing with external customers.
- Frequent decision-making.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.