Genetics in Medicine Open (Jan 2024)
The challenges and opportunities of offering and integrating training in clinical molecular genetics and clinical cytogenetics: A survey of LGG Fellowship Program Directors
- Joshua L. Deignan,
- Vimla Aggarwal,
- Allen E. Bale,
- Daniel B. Bellissimo,
- Jessica K. Booker,
- Yang Cao,
- Kristy R. Crooks,
- Kristen L. Deak,
- Daniela Del Gaudio,
- Birgit Funke,
- Nicole L. Hoppman,
- Vanessa Horner,
- Robert B. Hufnagel,
- Colleen Jackson-Cook,
- Prasad Koduru,
- Marco L. Leung,
- Shibo Li,
- Pengfei Liu,
- Minjie Luo,
- Rong Mao,
- Heather Mason-Suares,
- Fady M. Mikhail,
- Stephen R. Moore,
- Rizwan C. Naeem,
- Laura M. Pollard,
- Elena A. Repnikova,
- Lina Shao,
- Brandon M. Shaw,
- Shashirekha Shetty,
- Teresa A. Smolarek,
- Elizabeth Spiteri,
- Jessica Van Ziffle,
- Gail H. Vance,
- Cindy L. Vnencak-Jones,
- Eli S. Williams
Affiliations
- Joshua L. Deignan
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Joshua L. Deignan, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
- Vimla Aggarwal
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY
- Allen E. Bale
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
- Daniel B. Bellissimo
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Jessica K. Booker
- Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Yang Cao
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
- Kristy R. Crooks
- Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO
- Kristen L. Deak
- Department of Pathology, Duke University, Durham, NC
- Daniela Del Gaudio
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Birgit Funke
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
- Nicole L. Hoppman
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
- Vanessa Horner
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health and Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
- Robert B. Hufnagel
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Colleen Jackson-Cook
- Departments of Pathology and Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
- Prasad Koduru
- Department of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
- Marco L. Leung
- The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH; Department of Pediatrics and Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH
- Shibo Li
- Department of Pediatrics, Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- Pengfei Liu
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; Baylor Genetics, Houston, TX
- Minjie Luo
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Rong Mao
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT
- Heather Mason-Suares
- Division of Clinical Cytogenetics, Center for Advanced Molecular Diagnostics, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Mass General Brigham Personalized Medicine, Cambridge, MA
- Fady M. Mikhail
- Department of Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
- Stephen R. Moore
- Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
- Rizwan C. Naeem
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
- Laura M. Pollard
- Greenwood Genetic Center, Greenwood, SC
- Elena A. Repnikova
- Children’s Mercy Kansas City, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO
- Lina Shao
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
- Brandon M. Shaw
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
- Shashirekha Shetty
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH
- Teresa A. Smolarek
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
- Elizabeth Spiteri
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
- Jessica Van Ziffle
- Institute for Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Gail H. Vance
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
- Cindy L. Vnencak-Jones
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
- Eli S. Williams
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 2
p. 101820
Abstract
Purpose: The specialty of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics (LGG) was created in 2017 in an effort to reflect the increasing convergence in technologies and approaches between clinical molecular genetics and clinical cytogenetics. However, there has not yet been any formal evaluation of the merging of these disciplines and the challenges faced by Program Directors (PDs) tasked with ensuring the successful training of laboratory geneticists under the new model. Methods: An electronic multi-question Qualtrics survey was created and was sent to the PD for each of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited LGG fellowship programs at the time. The data were collected, and the responses were aggregated for each question. Results: All of the responding PDs had started training at least 1 LGG fellow. PDs noted challenges with funding, staff shortages, molecular/cytogenetics content integration, limited total training time, increased remote work, increased sendout testing, and a lack of prior cytogenetics knowledge among incoming fellows. Conclusion: This survey attempted to assess the challenges that LGG PDs have been facing in offering and integrating clinical molecular genetics and clinical cytogenetics fellowship training. Common challenges between programs were noted, and a set of 6 concluding comments are provided to facilitate future discussion.
