GENETIC COUNSELORS TO GRADUATE : GROWING FIELD AWAITS FIRST CLASS OF STUDENTS IN CSUN CLASS.Byline: Daniel Taub Daily News Staff Writer A mother develops Huntington's disease Huntington's disease, hereditary, acute disturbance of the central nervous system usually beginning in middle age and characterized by involuntary muscular movements and progressive intellectual deterioration; formerly called Huntington's chorea. , a genetic disorder that causes dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. . The woman wants to know whether her children or grandchildren are susceptible to the disorder. Where does she turn? To a genetic counselor - possibly from Cal State Northridge. Under a program that began two years ago, the university this month is graduating its first class of genetic counselors. The students are trained to advise everyone from expectant parents to concerned family members about the chances of a loved one developing a genetic disorder. And with the genetic-counseling field growing, the five students graduating from the Genetic Counseling Genetic Counseling Definition Genetic counseling aims to facilitate the exchange of information regarding a person's genetic legacy. It attempts to: Purpose Program should have no problem getting jobs. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. of any unemployed genetic counselors who want to be employed,'' said Mindi Lassman, chief of the prenatal screening section of the genetic disease branch of the California Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
``The more we find out about genetics, the more there is to test for and to screen for, and the more there is to interpret for families,'' Lassman said. Although the field of genetic counseling is more than 25 years old, only three universities in California - UC Berkeley, UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge - offer a master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. in genetic counseling. Combined, the three universities admit 17 students a year - five of them at Cal State Northridge, said program director Aida Metzenberg. At Northridge, the program is run by the university's biology, special education and educational psychology and counseling departments, Metzenberg said, and classes are in the three disciplines. Only 20 colleges and universities in the country offer a degree in genetic counseling, she said. Aside from classes in subjects from molecular diagnostics and atypical development in children to counseling skills counseling skills, n the acquired verbal and nonverbal skills that enhance communication by helping a medical professional to establish a good rapport with a patient or client. , students must also perform 1,000 hours of field work in genetics clinics at local hospitals, universities and health maintenance organizations, Metzenberg said. Students rotated working in clinics at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , the Prenatal Diagnostic Center of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , several Kaiser Permanente locations and other private clinics. Although field work includes lab research, the five students said they entered the program because they want to work directly with patients. Danielle LaGrave said that the hardest thing she had to do in the course of her studies was tell a pregnant woman that her first baby would most likely die before it was born. The unborn child had trisomy trisomy /tri·so·my/ (tri´so-me) the presence of an additional (third) chromosome of one type in an otherwise diploid cell (2n + 1). See also entries under syndrome. triso´mic tri·so·my n. 18, a congenital disorder that causes retardation and heart problems that result in death in the womb 90 percent of the time. Tress Padellford, 23, another student in the program, said that in the course of her field work she had to counsel people whose parents developed Huntington's disease. Aside from LaGrave and Padellford, the other students in the Genetic Counseling Program's first graduating class are Angela Grace, 32, Melody Kohan, 23, and Cheryl Ikeda, 24. Kohan and LaGrave are preparing to take two medical board exams at the end of June. The exams are given every three years, but counselors are not required to pass them in order to practice. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Cheryl Ikeda, 24, will be among the first five gradua tes of the Genetic Counseling Program at Cal State Northridge. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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