Program News

Check out our latest newsletter!

11/20/20

The Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) has just granted the Genetic Counseling Master’s Program at Rutgers University full accreditation for a period of six years, the maximum time allowed for programs transitioning from Accredited New Program status under the Standards of Accreditation for Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling! We are excited to continue to grow as a program and contribute to the quality education and professionalism in genetic counseling.

7/9/20

Congratulations to Jessica Rispoli Joines, director of the Rutgers Genetic Counseling Master's Program, for receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. This honor is awarded annually to non-tenure-track, full-time faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching skills in classroom instruction, clinical instruction, curriculum development, or mentoring. We join the Rutgers Genetics Department in congratulating Jessica and thanking her for her dedication to her students, program, and important field of genetic counseling! Read our story about the launch of the program in 2018 and hear from Jessica’s students themselves about their experience in the Rutgers University-New Brunswick Genetic Counseling program.

This fall has been both an exciting and busy time for both the class of 2020 and 2021! We were thrilled to welcome the nine amazing and bright students who make up the class of 2021. So far, our first-year students have been settling into the program and working hard in all of their classes. They have also had the opportunity to begin observing at specialty rotations such as the Huntington’s Disease clinic. To get to know our new class, make sure to read their bios later on in the newsletter! Our second-year students have been working hard in both their classes and clinical rotations and had the opportunity to go to NSGC in Salt Lake City. We are so proud that all eight of our second-year students had abstracts accepted at NSGC and had the opportunity to present at the national conference. Our second-years also have been learning about hot-topics in genetics including the use of telemedicine. Read our interview with Sandra D’Elia to learn more about this exciting topic

Since our last newsletter, our program has more than doubled in size through the addition of the eight amazing young women who make up the Class of 2020! These students were selected from an applicant pool of over 150 applicants! They also were the first class to participate in the genetic counseling match process administered by National Match Services (NMS). This process, adapted by all accredited genetic counseling programs, is comparable to the match algorithm that medical students participate in for residency. Although change can be challenging for all involved parties, we were certainly very pleased with the results. Once again, we have recruited a strong, motivated group of future leaders.

10/18/18

Delivering bad news to someone about a genetic mutation that could result in a devastating disease is not something anyone would want to do. But a new graduate program in genetic counseling – a collaboration between Rutgers-New Brunswick’s School of Arts and Sciences, the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences – teaches students the skills they need to help patients in these situations make difficult decisions. Check out the article in Rutgers Today.

9/22/16

The Rutgers Genetic Counseling Master’s Program (GCMP) has been granted Accredited New Program status by the ACGC. Rutgers is now the only ACGC accredited graduate program in New Jersey. This recognition indicates that our program meets all the required criteria and standards as determined by the ACGC. This accreditation is also very important as only graduates from ACGC accredited programs are eligible for the ABGC certification examination.

11/12/16

Please join us for an Open House on Saturday November 12, 2016. This is a great way to learn about the genetic counseling profession and our program at Rutgers. Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with several faculty members. This event is free. Please see our flyer for registration information.

Open House Flyer

12/17/15

The Graduate School- New Brunswick recently approved a proposal for a Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Rutgers University.  This program will be the first in New Jersey and hopes to accept its first class in 2017.  Faculty from the Department of Genetics and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School will be involved in training graduate students for this rapidly evolving and growing profession.