Date of Award

Spring 2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Genetic Counseling

First Advisor

Shandrea Foster

Abstract

Genetic counseling is a professional career path that is lacking in diversity, and diversity in healthcare has been shown to improve health outcomes. Studies suggest student engagement as a way to increase diversity, as early knowledge of genetic counseling increases the likelihood of considering it as a career and is especially true for racial or ethnic minoritized students. This study focused on educating high school students underrepresented in genetic counseling about the career and exploring the effectiveness of two different types of education methods (video vs in-person) to give valuable information for future outreach efforts. Upward Bound and Federal TRIO Programs located in southern states were contacted to schedule a presentation about the genetic counseling career for their students. The students were given an online survey before the presentation (pre-survey) and after (post-survey) assessing their knowledge, interest, and familiarity with the field. The post-survey also included open-ended feedback questions and asked students to rank presentation topics based on perceived value. There were 61 students eligible for analysis from the in-person data. The video data was insufficient for comparison. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed on the in-person data. Eighty-one percent of student participants identified as Black or African American. There was a statistically significant increase in knowledge and familiarity (p< 0.001) after the presentation but not in interest (p>0.05), showing the in-person presentation was effective in two of three areas explored. Gender identity and grade level did not show significance as intervention effects. By ranking topics and answering open-ended questions, participants supplied information about the way they wish to be educated about the genetic counseling career. The data suggests future inclusive outreach efforts should include working with Upward Bound or TRIO programs, conducting an in-person presentation, giving background context about DNA and genetics, incorporating direct experiences from genetic counselors, highlighting education requirements, using charts for explanations, highlighting updated salary information, being concise, and allowing time for questions about general genetics. The future implication of this study could assist those passionate about diversifying the genetic counseling field with insight into the most productive educational methods to reach high school students interested in genetic counseling as a career path.

Rights

© 2025, Bryel Marie Frasch

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