Call for improvement in medical school training in genetics: results of a national survey

Genetics in Medicine (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

To assess, from the student perspective, medical school training in genetics and genomics.

Methods

In 2019, the Undergraduate Training in Genomics (UTRIG) Working Group developed genetics-related survey and knowledge questions for the RISE-FIRST, an exam administered to postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pathology residents in the United States during their first months of training. Survey questions focused on perceived knowledge in genetics and the structure and quality of training with responses compared with those in control areas.

Results

There were 401 PGY1 pathology residents who took the 2019 RISE-FIRST (65% of those in the United States). There was significantly lower perceived understanding of genetics compared with nongenetics topics. Respondents also reported less time spent learning genetics and lower quality training compared with control areas. Only 53% indicated an interaction during medical school with a medical geneticist. Residents also did not perform as well on the UTRIG-developed knowledge questions than those in other areas of pathology.

Conclusion

The RISE-FIRST is a useful tool in assessing the current state of medical school training in genetics. This needs assessment may serve as a call to action to improve medical school genetics education and promote greater understanding of the role of genetics professionals in patient care.

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Fig. 1: Perceived understanding of medical school topics.
Fig. 2: Familiarity with online genetics tools.
Fig. 3: Interactions with health-care professionals.
Fig. 4: Comparison of time and quality of training in molecular genetics and genomic medicine.

Data availability

This work does not include any clinical data or development of materials or software. If requested, the data are available for review.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R25CA168544).

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Richard L. Haspel

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Jonathan R. Genzen

  3. American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), Chicago, IL, USA

    Jay Wagner & Karen Fong

  4. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center and Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Rebecca L. Wilcox

  5. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Richard L. Haspel & Loren Joseph

  6. University of Vermont Medical Center and University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Rebecca Wilcox

  7. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Patricia V. Adem

  8. University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Hana Anderson

  9. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    James B. Atkinson

  10. University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Leah W. Burke

  11. University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Robin D. LeGallo

  12. Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Madelyn Lew

  13. University of Washington, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Christina M. Lockwood

  14. Montefiore-Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Rizwan Naeem

  15. Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK

    Hasan Rizvi

  16. Clinica Universitaria de Navarra, Anatomía Patológica, Madrid, Spain

    Julian Sanz Ortega

  17. The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA

    Kate Shane-Carson

  18. American Society for Investigative Pathology, Rockville, MD, USA

    Mark E. Sobel

  19. Uniformed Services University, Pathology, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Eric Suarez

  20. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Laura J. Tafe

  21. Cook Children’s Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    Jason Wang

Authors
  1. Richard L. Haspel
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  2. Jonathan R. Genzen
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  3. Jay Wagner
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  4. Karen Fong
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  5. Rebecca L. Wilcox
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Consortia

the Undergraduate Training in Genomics (UTRIG) Working Group

Contributions

Conceptualization: R.L.H., R.L.W., J.R.G. Data curation: J.W. Formal analysis: R.L.H., J.W., K.F. Writing—original draft: R.L.H. Writing—review & editing: R.L.H., R.L.W., J.R.G., J.W., K.F.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca L. Wilcox.

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ETHICS DECLARATION

This work does not report a clinical study or experiment with human subjects. This study was judged by the investigators to be exempt from institutional review board based on the federal regulation 45 CFR 46.101(b)(2), which covers research involving the use of educational tests. In compliance with that regulation, none of the recorded or published information can be linked to any human subject, directly or through identifiers.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Haspel, R.L., Genzen, J.R., Wagner, J. et al. Call for improvement in medical school training in genetics: results of a national survey. Genet Med (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41436-021-01100-5

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