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Diversity in Genetic Counseling: Past, Present and Future

  • Professional Issues
  • Published:
Journal of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

Despite decades of efforts to increase ethnic and racial diversity among genetic counselors, African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians, currently constituting almost one-third of Americans, remain only meagerly represented among genetic counselors at a level far under that seen in other health professions. This paper provides the first comprehensive effort to archive published and unpublished initiatives to increase ethnic and racial diversity in the profession. It also provides a review of national data and diversity initiatives in the health workforce in general. The paper reviews diversity initiatives in other health professions and suggests ways to improve recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations into genetic counseling. Increasing the diversity of the genetic counseling workforce stands not only to expand access to genetic services but also to improve the quality of genetic care provided to the American public.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Ilana Suez Mittman

  2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Katy Downs

  3. Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Katy Downs

  4. Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, 807 S Clinton Street, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Ilana Suez Mittman

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  1. Ilana Suez Mittman
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  2. Katy Downs
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Correspondence to Ilana Suez Mittman.

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Mittman, I.S., Downs, K. Diversity in Genetic Counseling: Past, Present and Future. J Genet Counsel 17, 301–313 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-008-9160-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-008-9160-5

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