Careers in genetics
Hi everyone. I’m a pediatric genetic counselor and have been in the field for over 5 years now, but I seem to have hit the point where I don’t know what comes next for my career.
I’ve had my share of woes with the genetic counseling field, both personal experiences and the evolution of the career as a whole. I’ve realized that I’ve outgrown my current position at this point (a senior GC job, but not much more room for growth beyond that) so I’m looking for something else, but not sure what that actually looks like.
The GC field is growing exponentially, both students and the job market- this may not be evident right now, but I predict in the next year we will see an explosion of lab GC positions (for example, GeneDx will need more GCs for virtual counseling now that they’ve basically started doing direct to consumer testing (sigh)). In an age where technology continues to evolve, we’ll move towards never seeing patients face to face and, eventually, maybe AI will just replace us entirely, who knows. There’s also the fact that non-genetics providers now order their own testing and can basically just hire a GC to explain whatever they order and not have to worry about it themselves (worried about this evolution too, see next paragraph). Personally, I don’t find myself fitting into either type of role.
I’ve been told by numerous people, including doctors, that I should consider going to medical school to become a geneticist. I thought about it and even bought the MCAT books to get started, but I forgot there are other science topics besides genetics (what is physics) and quickly lost interest. There’s several unappealing things about being a doctor, both the education I’d need to go through and the job itself. I also genuinely think the field is shrinking and will eventually collapse, especially now that non-geneticist MDs are ordering their own testing and hiring GCs to advise on the results. There was a time when no one ordered genetic testing besides genetics clinics, and now look how the tables have turned. Soon, they’ll just learn how to refer out and not even need geneticists for the syndromic stuff, eradicating the field entirely (perhaps dramatic, but that’s my prediction). All things considered, I don’t think this avenue is a good idea.
I briefly contemplated NP or PA school, but I don’t feel motivated for either of those paths, especially not ones with “assistant” in the name in a field as cutthroat as medicine (no offense to PAs).
Anyway, I’m not sure what I’m trying to get at here, but my partner recommended finding a mentor to go through all of this. But Reddit is faster and easier! Open to thoughts and recommendations, if any. TIA!