Abstract
Portugal is one of the European countries where genetic counseling is emerging as an independent clinical and scientific field, paralleling the international expansion of this profession. Important steps have been consistently made towards establishing safe and ethical genetic counseling, delivered by adequately trained professionals. In 1998, Clinical Genetics was recognized in Portugal as a medical specialty. Eleven years later, the first generation of Portuguese (non MD) genetic counselors started a master level training programme at the University of Porto.
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Acknowledgments
We want to thank to Professor Heather Skirton, from Plymouth University, United Kingdom, who has actively encouraged developing genetic counseling practice, education and research in Europe, as well as for her assistance in language corrections.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
This manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. No data have been fabricated or manipulated to support our conclusions. Consent to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors and the four authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for this short report.
Conflict of Interest
Milena Paneque, Álvaro Mendes, Jorge Saraiva and Jorge Sequeiros declare they have no conflict of interest.
Funding
MP (SFRH/BPD/66484/2009) and AM (SFRH/BPD/88647/2012) were the recipients of postdoctoral fellowships from FCT (the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology).
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Paneque, M., Mendes, Á., Saraiva, J. et al. Genetic Counseling in Portugal: Education, Practice and a Developing Profession. J Genet Counsel 24, 548–552 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-015-9827-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-015-9827-7