A Jump into Genetics

In the past few weeks, I have:

A) Narrowed down the genetics career I wanted to research to clinical genetics.

B) Created industry-related interview questions about clinical genetics. (This is for when I interview someone in the field in the next few months.)

C) Done extensive research on clinical genetics.

A great deal of information is at my fingertips on the Internet, and so I've diligently searched for articles from real clinical geneticists. I've learned a lot about the ethical dilemmas a clinical geneticist might have to face daily. Most of it, I noticed, is the family. Should I inform a patient's family of their genetic condition even if the patient doesn't want me to? After a research study, should I always report a genetic condition to a test subject, even if I am not obligated to do so? I got to see different perspectives on all of these questions, which I am glad for. Moreover, I researched the current condition of the genetics field. Right now, there's a very huge shortage of geneticists in the United States, and as a result, patients typically have to wait months for a visit with an already oversaturated geneticist. Furthermore, although genetics tests have become more accessible in recent years, thanks to DTCs (direct-to-consumers) like 23andme and ancestry.com, there is still a need to expand services into rural areas & specifically Native American reservations.

I was challenged by how difficult it was to find articles about clinical genetics as a career. It took me about an hour of searching for each of the two articles I have found till now. Mostly, this was because I had to fish through lots of lab reports & scientific journals in Google Scholar to find what I wanted. This week, I was successful in finishing the Topic Proposal for Clinical Genetics. Next week, I hope to continue researching clinical genetics--this time I want to focus on genetic tests.