Genetic Counseling Fieldwork

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Students will complete 4 clinical rotations (800 hours) of fieldwork, training under the supervision of board certified genetic counselors and geneticists. The program is designed to provide a developmental approach in which students are expected to gradually take on additional clinical roles and responsibilities to eventually master the Practice Based Competencies defined by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.

Fieldwork provides an opportunity to synthesize information from the classroom and use it in the community or clinic setting. Students have an opportunity to employ critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills with a variety of experiences including different age groups, practice settings, and diagnoses. The primary goal is for completion of the fieldwork rotations and simulated cases that will prepare the student for practice as an entry-level genetic counselor. Fieldwork placement assignments take into consideration not only student preferences and the location of the student’s home, but also an overall plan to place students in rotation sites to allow a breadth of fieldwork exposure. Fieldwork site assignments are at a premium in all graduate genetic counseling programs; while program faculty make every effort to find sites that are convenient for students, some sites may be in high demand. Therefore, it is possible that fieldwork rotations may require distant travel, and students are responsible for housing, transportation, parking, and any additional expenses required for clinical training. 

The following is the typical clinical rotation scheme:

• First Year - Spring Semester: 80 hours
• Second Year - Summer, Fall, and Spring Semesters: 240 hours each

The Genetic Counseling Program partners with numerous clinical genetics centers in Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New England. Additional training sites are located across the country and more are added annually, as possible, to meet our students' needs.

Clinical Sites

The following is a sample list of current clinical sites where our students may engage in fieldwork, but it changes each year as our student body changes. If you match with Bay Path, you will be able to request where you do your fieldwork, and your requests will be accommodated to the best of our ability to find sites.

Pediatric/General Genetics Rotation Sites (includes Adult Genetics)
• Albany Medical Center - Albany, NY
• Baylor, Scott and White - Temple, TX
• Baystate Health - Springfield, MA
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
• Connecticut Children’s Medical Center - Hartford, CT
• Cook Children’s Hospital - Ft. Worth, TX
• Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon and Nashua, NH
• Ferre Institute - Binghamton, NY
• Hudson-Alpha Institute - Huntsville, AL
• LeBonheur Children’s Hospital - Memphis, TN
• Maine Medical Center - Portland, ME
• Medical University of South Carolina - Charleston, SC
• Northwell Health - Great Neck, NY
• PennState Hershey - Hershey, PA
• Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids, MI
• St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital- Memphis, TN
• Tufts Medical Center - Boston, MA
• UCONN - Hartford, CT
• University of Kentucky- Lexington, KY
• University of Illinois, Peoria
• UMASS - Worcester, MA
• University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital - Rochester, NY
• University of Vermont - Burlington, VT
• Yale Cardiac Genetics Clinic - New Haven, CT
• Yale Pediatric Genetics - New Haven, CT

Prenatal Rotation Sites (includes Preconception and Adult)
• Albany Medical Center - Albany, NY
• Baylor, Scott and White - Temple, TX
• Baystate Health - Springfield, MA
• Bronson Hospital Group - Kalamazoo, MI
• Carilion Clinic - Roanoke, VA
• Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Group - Lebanon, NH
• Ferre Institute - Albany, NY
• Geisinger Medical Group - Danville, PA
• George Jervis/Institution for Basic Research - Staten Island, NY
• Health-Quest - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Integrated Genetics - Georgia and South Carolina
• Maine Medical Center - Portland, ME
• Medical University of South Carolina - Charleston, SC
• Penn State Hershey - Hershey, PA
• Perinatal Associates of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM
• Pinon Perinatal - Albuquerque, NM (in progress)
• UCONN - Farmington, CT
• University of Kentucky - Lexington, KY
• Wentworth-Douglass Medical Center - Dover, NH
• Care New England, Women’s and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Providence, RI
• Yale New Haven Hospital, Prenatal Genetics - New Haven, CT

Cancer Genetics Rotation Sites
• Baystate Health - Springfield, MA
• Carilion Clinic - Roanoke, VA
• Clearview Cancer Institute - Huntsville, AL
• Community Medical Center - Toms River, NJ
• Dana Farber Cancer Center - Boston, MA
• Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon and Nashua, NH
• Ferre Institute - Albany, NY
• Genetic Counseling Services, Inc. - Schenectady, NY
• Hartford Healthcare - Hartford, CT
• Health Quest - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Inova - Fairfax, VA
• Northwell Health - Great Neck, NY
• Penn State Hershey - Hershey, PA
• Smilow Cancer Center, Yale New Haven Hospital
• Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids, MI
• St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital - Memphis, TN
• St. Elizabeth Healthcare - Edgewood, KY
• UCONN - Hartford, CT
• University Health Care System - Augusta, GA
• University of Kentucky - Lexington, KY
• University of New Mexico Hereditary Cancer Center - Albuquerque, NM (in progress)
• University of Texas, Southwestern - Dallas, TX
• University of Vermont - Burlington, VM

Lab/Industry Rotations Sites
• Athena Diagnostics, MA
• CT Newborn Screening Lab, Hartford, CT
• GeneDx - Gaithersburg, MD
• Invitae Genetics - San Francisco, CA
• Jackson Laboratories, Farmington, CT
• MA Newborn Screening Lab (in process)
• Myriad Genetics - Salt Lake City, UT
• Wadsworth Center - Biggs Lab - Albany, NY

Please visit the MS in Genetic Counseling program page to learn about the curriculum, faculty, program options, and more!