Abstract
Pediatric cancer genetic counseling has many unique considerations compared to other genetic counseling specialties that may not be addressed in a typical graduate school training program, neither in clinical nor didactic curriculum. Some of these considerations include learning about unique hereditary cancer syndromes, greater family-centered counseling, tailoring cancer education to children and adolescents, and working with unique ethical deliberations. Little research has been done to assess the quality of pediatric cancer education or the preparedness of genetic counselors entering a pediatric cancer job following graduate training. To better understand current training practices with regards to pediatric cancer, an anonymous survey was sent out to assess what training genetic counselors who see cancer patients under the age of 18 in a clinical setting received in graduate school and how prepared they felt in their career. Few respondents (9.09%) reported that they had a clinical internship specifically related to pediatric cancer. These individuals reported feeling no more prepared to work in this field as those who did not have such an internship. Many also reported that requiring a clinical internship would be a barrier to those interested in pursuing this specialty and felt that they learned necessary transferrable skills through other internships. Roughly half (48.1%) of respondents reported that they had didactic curriculum centered around pediatric cancer. Overall, those who reported any amount of coursework felt no more prepared than those who did not. However, a greater number of lectures related to pediatric cancer was correlated with a higher level of preparedness. Specifically, preparedness levels were significantly higher when respondents reported learning about psychosocial considerations unique to children with cancer, counseling children directly, family counseling, and ethical issues present in pediatric oncology. Overall, counselors who work in pediatric cancer felt that their graduate school provided them with adequate skills necessary to succeed but believed their didactic graduate school curriculum could be enhanced to include more psychosocial training around family-centered counseling and role play scenarios involving pediatric cancer patients. Additionally, on-the-job training was an important aspect of their development as genetic counselors following completion of their foundational graduate school training.