This is an introduction to counselling skills for genomics. The aim of this module is to equip students with the knowledge, communication and counselling skills and appropriate attitudes and behaviours towards the diagnosis and management of patients whose care will be influenced by genomic investigations. Students undertaking this module are taught how to communicate and provide appropriate support to individuals and their families. Development of counselling skills is achieved via theoretical and practical sessions. Students are taught to understand the importance of a family history and communication of pathogenic and/or uncertain results. Patient involvement is an integral feature of this module. The patient perspective will also be considered extensively within the role play delivery.

In GMO2 you will learn about:

• Communication and counselling skills

• Consent and what it means in relation to the 100,000 Genomes Project

• Ethical and social implications of genomic testing

• How to record and interpret a family history, recognising what is or may be relevant

• How to verify personal and family history information; consent, confidentiality, access to records

• Different purposes of genomic testing

• Approaches to prenatal testing, pre-implantation testing (PGD) and pre-conception carrier screening in relation to new technologies

• Strategies of approach to lifelong patient management of whole genome information

• Managing and explaining complex genome results

• Sources for patient support: patient support groups, on-line resources, other resources

By the end of this module students will be able to:

• Explain and justify the importance of and application of informed consent in the field of genomic medicine

• Explain the different purposes of genomic testing in patients with rare inherited diseases, cancer and infectious diseases

• Explain genomic results in terms of diagnosis prediction and uncertainty

• Describe and evaluate the skills necessary to support individuals who have genomic results that affect their care including the underpinning evidence base and patient perspective

• Discuss the concepts of genetic and genomic predispositions to illnesses

• Discuss the consequences of genomic test results on the patient and the wider family including incidental findings drawing on the published evidence base and personal experiences of patients, carers and the wider family

• Evaluate and discuss the communication and counselling skills needed to engage and communicate effectively in a compassionate manner with patients, their carers and the wider family

• Explain the range of screening pathways used to test for inherited and acquired disorders and evaluate their effectiveness including how they support clinical decision making

• Discuss and critically evaluate current and potential future ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) of genome testing and whole genome sequencing