Genetic Counseling Program Standards and Milestones

Year 1 Milestones

Semester 1:

Review and Attestation of UConn Genetic Counseling Student Handbook in HuskyCT

The Master of Science degree in Genetic Counseling students are provided with an online student handbook containing programmatic information about academic regulations, standards, trainings, resources, and more.

Program Registration

Students must complete university and programmatic orientation training within specified deadlines. Graduate students must register by the tenth day of the semester. Failure to do so will result in termination of status. Students who wish to continue the following termination will be required to pay a substantial reinstatement fee and a late registration fee.

Completion of CITI Training: Human Subjects Research

Genetic Counseling students are required to complete the research-appropriate courses on the CITI Program website and complete certification as a component of the Program's professional development. The CITI Basic Course certification is good for three (3) years at which time, the CITI Refresher Course must be taken to maintain certification. For information about completing the CITI Refresher Course: CITI Refresher Course.

There are two basic CITI Courses for Human Subjects.  Group 1 is the basic Biomedical Research course and it consists of the following [modules] and Group 2 is the basic Social and Behavioral Science course and consists of the following [modules]. For more information about these requirements: CITI Training.

Semester 2:

Completion of Capstone Preparation Training

Review of expectations, documentation (IRB) and deliverables

Summer:

Completion of Practice Comprehensive Exam

Students will complete an examination with Board style questions. Exam performance will be reviewed with program leadership.

Capstone Project (Summer) - 1 credit course

Each student will implement an individual, original graduate-level investigation that has been approved by the program’s Capstone Research Committee. Projects will naturally range in topic, design, and outcomes, but each student will be required to provide the advisory committee with a specific research question or illustrate an innovative approach to an identified need. Publication and/or professional presentations at regional and national conferences will strongly be encouraged, but not mandatory for the dissemination of student work.

Year 2 Milestones

Semester 1:

Capstone Project Learning Agreement 

Plan of Study 

Semester 2:

Capstone Project 

Capstone Exam

The capstone requirement will involve 2 parts. It will require a public professional presentation of ~40-50 minutes followed by an open question/answer session by the public and then a closed question/answer session with the advisory committee.  The content of the presentation will be finalized with input from the student, advisory committee members, or others as appropriate with the final decision from the student's major advisor.

Part 1 is the student presentation of the completed research/capstone project to the student’s advisory committee and invited public audience. Part 2 is an advisory committee question/answer session with the candidate. This portion of the capstone allows students to expand on their knowledge base of human and medical genetics and genetic counseling. The student's advisory committee is composed of the Program Director and two or three additional faculty. Students may be given genetic counseling scenarios to discuss, asked general knowledge questions in any area of the curriculum or to clarify answers related to their capstone project.

Students must pass both portions of the capstone requirement in order to meet graduation requirements. The decision as to whether a student has passed or failed the capstone requirement rests solely with the advisory committee, which shall take into account the opinions of other participating faculty members. The vote of the advisory committee must be unanimous. Following the examination, the major advisor shall communicate the results to the student and send a report on the official form to the Office of the Registrar. If the student has failed the examination or if the advisory committee considers the result of the examination inconclusive, the committee has the option of requiring the student to retake it. In such cases, the recommendation must reach The Graduate School promptly, and any re-examination must take place within 12 months from the date of the original examination. If the advisory committee consists of three members, decisions must be unanimous. If the advisory committee consists of four or more members, decisions are considered adopted if there is no more than one negative vote, although according to University the major advisor must always vote in the affirmative for a student to pass.

If a student fails the capstone requirement, the examination committee will provide avenues for the student to rectify the deficiency, such as having the student participate in remediation of specific content areas as arranged by program leadership. Committee members may also decide that additional course or clinical work is necessary in order to meet the requirements of the Program. If a student is unable to pass the capstone requirement following remediation, the student will be asked to withdraw from the Program.

Comprehensive Exam

There is a second practice comprehensive examination taken in Spring of Year 2. It is a multiple-choice examination that covers the didactic courses and clinical genetic counseling material covered during the genetic counseling program and is taken by all second-year students.. Portions of the examination are patterned after the certification examination given by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.

Additional course or clinical remediation work may be necessary to meet the requirements of the Program.

Overview of Program Requirements

By accepting admission, the genetic counseling graduate student assumes responsibility for knowing and complying with the program requirements and standards as posted in the Student Handbook.

  1. Sustain an overall 3.0 GPA in the required credit hours following the curriculum guidelines
  2. Complete a Capstone Project, including a public presentation of the project and a question/answer session with the student advisory committee
  3. Complete a minimum of 50 ABGC approved core cases
  4. Pass all course-specific requirements as specified in respective syllabi
  5. Pass a comprehensive ABGC board-style exam

Transfer Credits, Course Exemptions, and Remediation

A graduate student may transfer only the specific University of Connecticut courses listed on the genetic counseling program curriculum. The student must have earned a grade of B or better for transferred courses to be applied toward the genetic counseling program plan of study. A maximum of 12-credits from the University of Connecticut Institute for System Genomics Graduate Certificate Programs in Clinical Genetics and Genomics or Clinical Communication and Counseling may transfer and provided those credits have not been applied to another degree at UConn or elsewhere. Similarly, up to 6-credits of the same UConn graduate certificate courses taken on a non-degree basis may be applied to a graduate degree. Credits taken several years prior should normally not be transferred, since it may affect the time limit allowed for the degree (see "Time Limits" below).

Time Limits

Graduate students are expected to make regular and continuous progress toward the completion of their program of study and should be familiar with recent developments in their field. Therefore the Graduate School has set time limits for the completion of degrees. For master's students, the time limit is six years. The time allowed is measured from the date of the earliest course listed on the Plan of Study. Therefore any credits you may wish to transfer from prior work should be considered carefully, because they may significantly shorten the time allotted for you to complete the degree. Students who fail to complete all requirements for their program within the time allowed will have their status and their progress reevaluated, and they may be terminated. Extensions of the terminal date are considered only for students who have made regular and consistent progress toward completion of degree requirements. The Graduate School will consider an extension only if it is requested in writing by the student's major advisor.

Grade Requirements

Students must earn a grade of B or better for graded courses and an S (Satisfactory) for S/U graded courses throughout the Program. Each course in the Program has specific requirements and evaluation processes. If any course grade is below a B, the student will be required to demonstrate his or her mastery of the material (for example, retaking the course and earning at least a B). Decisions for remediation are made on a case-by-case basis with input from the student, the course instructor, and program faculty with the final decision of the program director. Additionally, each student must demonstrate appropriate development of clinical skills and competencies during rotations as reflected by passing scores on formative and summative assessments distributed throughout the duration of each internship.

Core Cases in Clinical Rotations

Students must complete a minimum of 50 participatory ABGC-approved core cases during their fieldwork placements. Details about participatory case requirements and breakdown are found in the official student handbook.

Maximum Time Allowed

All the requirements for the master’s degree must be completed within six consecutive calendar years.