Each student is expected to complete his or her course work in four semesters. The university requires that master’s degrees be completed in a maximum of five years. As part of their course work, students do clinical rotations in the spring semester of the first year and both semesters of the second year. Students engage in clinical experiences during the intervening summer as well. To be considered full-time, the student must register for 15 credit hours in the fall and spring semesters. In order to be considered in good academic standing, a student must achieve a 2.5 grade-point average after the first semester and maintain a 3.0 GPA in the subsequent semesters. Students who fail to maintain a 3.0 average are permitted one semester to bring their average up to the required level.
The typical course schedule is as given below (exceptions to this schedule reflect special situations, and must have the approval of the graduate program director who will consult with the genetic counseling program director).
Sample course work
Clinical training
VCU Medical Center is a tertiary care medical center that provides trainees with ample opportunity to gain experience in a variety of clinical conditions and settings and clinical training opportunities support the development of the practice-based competencies as set forth by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. The Department of Genetics has a longstanding history of providing clinical genetic services ranging from preconception to postmortem indications in the greater-Richmond area. Design of clinical training allows the trainee to acquire more than the required number of cases to be deemed eligible to take the American Board of Genetic Counseling certification examination. Clinical training is intended to provide the trainee with an increasingly complex and independent case management and critical thinking experience. The trainee’s clinical role begins as observation, progresses to a participatory role and culminates in a fully supervised independent case management role. The format of clinical training allows and encourages the trainee to participate in a wide variety of case service types as well as to work professionally with a number of medical professionals including genetic counselors, physician geneticists, genetic fellows, other physicians, medical residents and students.
Seminar
All students are required to attend a research seminar each week in addition to any departmental seminars scheduled. First-year students present their lab module work and/or an organized review of a genetic counseling topic. Second-year students present a seminar on their research project.
All genetic counseling students are required to attend the weekly Wednesday noontime meetings:
First Wednesday of the month |
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genetic counseling case conference
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Second Wednesday of the month |
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pizza rounds on a clinical genetics topic;
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Third Wednesday of the month |
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Fourth Wednesday of the month |
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Students in rotation will be responsible for leading discussion at the genetic counseling case conference and reporting at journal club. All students are encouraged to attend pre-clinic (Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until noon in the Human Genetics conference room), hospital rounds and Friday’s General Genetics clinic (Children’s Pavilion, 4th floor, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.). A wide variety of departmental rounds, seminars and conferences take place on both VCU campuses. Students are strongly encouraged to look at bulletin boards on at least a weekly basis and attend relevant meetings.
Computer literacy
The department has no foreign language requirements; however, each student is expected to demonstrate proficiency in computer usage. Short courses in computer usage are available through Academic Computing in Sanger Hall. Informal instruction is routinely provided by faculty, staff and advanced students.
Research project
The purpose of the research project is to give the student hands-on experience in asking a research question or posing a professional or program problem, reviewing the literature, and attempting to answer the question or problem. Projects should enhance the student’s professional development and represent a strong component of the “portfolio” of experience brought to the job interview process. Projects can range from laboratory to clinical and may include development of educational materials, videotapes or patient protocols. All projects are required to have defined goals and/or hypotheses to be tested. Institutional review board application and review is required for all student research. Publication and professional presentation are encouraged.
Students are strongly encouraged to consider possible projects in the first semester and decide on a project by the second semester. The faculty person with whom the project will be done and the program director will need to approve the project proposal. Meetings are encouraged on a regular basis (at least monthly) with the adviser to monitor progress on the project. In addition, project meetings for all students with the program director will take place over the summer between the two years of course work. All phases of the project will involve collaboration with multiple people. The student has day-to-day and ultimate responsibility for the project and needs to be practicing good time management. Such projects usually take more time than one anticipates — partly because collaboration is involved and everyone (including students) has very busy schedules and this fact needs to be respected. All projects will need to be reviewed by the Office of Research Subjects Protections and/or grant funding will need to be sought. The student will be responsible for preparing documents and meeting these requirements in a timely fashion. For these reasons, it is suggested that more time be built into the project timeline than what is initially anticipated.
By the beginning of the fourth semester, the student should have an outline of the project paper reviewed by the project adviser and program director. The student gives a presentation on their project in the department’s research seminar series the spring they graduate. In addition, a written report on the project is due by the end of classes.
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