Scope in genetic counselling

Pervin Malhotra

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Q. I am currently pursuing BPharma. I am interested in pursuing genetic counselling as a career. Could you please tell me something about this field and job prospects.

— Jignesh Verma

A. The past few decades have witnessed an immense growth in medical knowledge, bringing genetics from obscurity to the forefront in healthcare.

Thanks to the new generation of sophisticated genetic tests, new information about causative genes, diagnosis of diseases and the treatment options available for several single gene and complex genetic disorders and birth defects are now known which in turn, makes diagnosis and treatment easier.

It’s in this scenario that genetic counsellors are increasingly becoming a valuable part of our healthcare services.

They assess the individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects and educate them about the risk of these conditions and guide those at risk in making an informed decision and coping with the related issues.

Besides liaising with healthcare professionals, diagnostic labs, trained genetic counsellors also play a key role in educating healthcare providers and assist in establishing standards of practice.

They also communicate with policy makers, media and the public about new and emerging medical-genetic technologies and services. At a later stage, you may even help conduct research related to genetic conditions or genetic counselling.

Presently, there are very few formal Genetic Counselling Training programmes in India.

Kamineni Hospitals, Hyderabad offer a Post Graduate Certificate Course in Medical & Genetic Counselling

Manipal Hospitals, Bangalore offer a Certificate Course in Genetic Counselling

Vellore Institute of Technology offers MSc in Biomedical genetics with Genetic counselling ( www.vit.ac.in)

The National Institute of Biomedical Genetics, West Bengal, and Maharashtra Institute of Health Sciences, Pune, plan to offer full time Genetic Counselling programmes in their respective institutes in the future.

For details regarding certifications, eligibility etc, I would suggest you contact the genetic Counseling Board of India, Hyderabad (www.geneticcounselingboardindia.com)

How can I join a TV channel?

Q. I have been working for a leading database publisher for the past five years. I would like to know how I can join any of the satellite TV channels as media interests me greatly. I don’t know how to go about it.

— Lopa Singh

A. The first thing to do is to identify the satellite channels operating in your city. Secondly, it would help to learn something about the industry including the large variety of jobs it offers — both in front of and behind the camera.

Once you have a clearer idea of the kind of jobs to pitch for, seize the initiative in your hands in order to find the right niche. Here, I would like to point out that most of the available jobs in this industry are never advertised. Tap them using the following proven approaches:

1) List the channels you’d like to work with — and which might find your experience appropriate and valuable — and contact them with your bio-data and a compelling covering letter highlighting how you could make a valuable contribution to the organization. You might be pleasantly surprised by the response because every organization likes to see such initiative.

2) Activate your network of friends, colleagues, relatives, etc. — some of whom might be working in this field — and investigate any job-leads that they may be able to suggest. Why just channels? Try the television production houses as well. There are a large number of them around. They may take you on as a Researcher or Production Assistant to begin with, which is a wonderful opportunity to learn the ropes. Time marketing is yet another area you could look at.

Away from the formal ‘route’

Q. am a student of Class XII (Humanities). Please suggest some career options, which do not require a formal degree.

— Kartik

A. Depending on your interest and aptitude there are a whole lot of varied options that you could consider. These include entry-level jobs in IT, beauty and hair care, fashion (design & marketing), hotel management and catering, modelling, travel and tourism, photography, sales and marketing, insurance and IT-enabled services ( BPOS etc), social media, digital marketing — the list is endless. Typically the courses that prepare you for these jobs are short-term ones.

However, formal education won’t hurt. it’s always advisable to have a bachelor’s degree in any discipline of your choice (albeit through correspondence) as most jobs today require graduation as the minimum eligibility at the entry-level. Today every university offers a choice of vocational courses at the bachelor’s level.

Besides, should you wish to study further at any time in the future, a bachelor’s degree will prove handy.

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