I got everything out of the program that I was hoping to and more – including a new network of colleagues across the country! It was great to be able to take my collection of rather haphazardly assembled research skills and develop them (and my confidence) in a formal academic framework. The program very much facilitated a mid-career pivot to having sustained part-time funded research effort.
Our Certificate
The Advanced Research Training for
Genetic Counselors Certificate Program
The Advanced Research Training Certificate Program for Genetic Counselors (or ART-GC) is the first graduate level program that provides genetic counselors with specific advanced training for research to prepare them to lead biomedical, translational, behavioral, and/or clinical research studies in genomic medicine.
It is a part-time, online, one-year program currently open only to genetic counselors who have graduated from an ACGC accredited master's program. Participating genetic counselors continue to work part-time in their current positions while completing the program.
Genetics experts at five prestigious medical schools are collaborating on the design and instruction for this program:
- University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
- University of Washington School of Medicine
Semester, Coursework, and Research
Fall Semester: Mentored Research Project
- GENC 7101: Research Design and Methodology
- GENC 7102: Research Bioethics
Spring Semester: Mentored Research Project
- GENC 7103: Manuscript and Grant Writing
- GENC 7104: Biomedical Informatics for Genetic Counselors or
- Elective course in area of research interest
Core Courses
There are four required courses, including one elective course. Courses are primarily asynchronous and are taken one at a time, in sequential seven-week blocks, two in the fall semester and two in the spring semester. Regular weekly synchronous online meetings provide students with opportunities to build on didactic learning. Courses are graded on a pass/fail basis, except in situations in which a student enrolls in an elective course where pass/fail grading is not an option.
The required courses are:
- GENC 7101: Research Design and Methodology
- GENC 7102: Research Bioethics
- GENC 7103: Manuscript and Grant Writing
Full descriptions of each course can be found here and in the University of Pennsylvania course catalog.
Elective Courses
As part of the certificate program, students will enroll in an online elective offered through one of the Master’s and Certificate Programs at the Perelman School of Medicine. Most students choose GENC 7104: Biomedical Informatics for Genetic Counselors, an elective developed specifically for this program, but other opt for courses in Healthcare Innovation, Bioethics, or Public Health. The elective course may enhance a student’s interests and skills in patient advocacy, health care disparities, genomic medicine, health care innovations, ethical, legal, and social issues, or promote their ability to write grants as independent researchers. Electives other than GENC 7104 require prior approval of the Mentoring Committee.
Examples of online elective courses include:
- BMIN 5050: Precision Medicine and Health Policy
- HCIN 6070: Translating Ideas into Outcomes
- HCIN 6071: Health Equity
- HCIN 6190: Pitching Innovation
- HCIN 6170: Leading Change in Health Care
Mentored Research
Throughout their time in the program, each student also works closely with a research mentor to design and complete an individual research project in their area of interest. This can be a research project the student is already actively pursuing, or the student can propose a new research topic and be matched with a research mentor at their institution.
Required Materials:
- a completed application form with basic demographic information
- a current CV
- a copy of an active genetic counseling license, documentation of current ABGC certification, or a final, unofficial final transcript from an accredited genetic counseling program
- a letter from current supervisor or department head acknowledging the 50% reduction in availability during the enrollment year and the 50% compensation for salary support during that time from the Warren Alpert Foundation funded Career Ladder Education for Genetic Counselors grant
- a brief (300-500 words) personal statement explaining interest in the ART-GC certificate program and advanced research.
The statement should respond to the following prompt:
Please briefly explain your interest in the Advanced Research Training Certificate Program and how you expect this certificate program will enhance your research career. For example, you can share topics of interest or gaps in your past training that you would like to see addressed. Also, briefly describe a research topic you plan on focusing on for the program.
The Advanced Research Training for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program is funded by the Career Ladder Education for Genetic Counselors grant from the Warren Alpert Foundation
In 2022, The Warren Alpert Foundation, a philanthropic group focused on public health, awarded a $9.7 million grant to PIs Kathleen Valverde, PhD, LCGC, and Daniel Rader, MD, to establish innovative programs that will help keep genetic counselors abreast of developments in the genomic medicine.
Dr. Valverde is the Director of the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program in the Perelman School of Medicine, and Dr. Rader is Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine and Chief, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, in the Department of Medicine at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Chief of the Division of Human Genetics and Metabolic Disease Program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Frequently Asked Questions
The CLEPGC program is a part-time, one-year program. Participating genetic counselors will continue to work part-time in their current positions.
The University of Pennsylvania operates on an academic semester system. The certificate program has two courses in the fall semester and two courses in the spring semester. Research work begins in the fall and continues through the summer. The third cohort of the ACLEPGC program will begin classes in fall 2025 and complete the certificate in June 2026.
The certificate program works like a research sabbatical. Participants will devote 50% of their work time to the program while continuing to work half time in their current positions. Grant funding covers the cost of tuition, and in addition, provides 50% salary support for one year to the participants' departments. This means that each trainee will remain a full-time employee of their institution with full time benefits, and that their institution has the resources to hire a part-time employee to cover their responsibilities while they are in the program.
There is currently no cost to participate. The Warren Alpert Foundation provided a $9.7 million grant (the Career Ladder Education Program for Genetic Counseling (CLEP-GC)) to the University of Pennsylvania's Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program in the Perelman School of Medicine in 2022 to develop innovative career ladder opportunities for genetic counselors. This grant fully funds all aspects of the ART-GC certificate program. (See more below.)
Certified genetic counselors affiliated with the five consortium programs are encouraged to apply. Two genetic counselors from each site will be enrolled each year, a cohort of ten trainees yearly (a total of 40 trainees over four years). It is expected that applicants would have several years of experience in genetic counseling, including some research, and an interest in pursuing additional research at a higher level.
The CLEPGC will provide advanced training on the topics listed above and fill gaps in previous training, with in-depth focus on research design, grant writing and manuscript preparation. Research and career mentors will be matched with each certificate student. In addition, students from the five participating institutions will interact with each other leading to networking and collaborative possibilities. A yearly seminar will be convened to allow trainees to share their research projects within the cohort and with the faculty leadership. After completing the program, each trainee will receive an official master’s certificate from the University of Pennsylvania.
Questions
Contact Tiff Hartman PhD, LCGC, the Associate Director of the Advanced Research Training Certificate Program, with any questions at tiff.hartman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
You can also contact Kathleen Valverde, PhD, LCGC, co-PI for the Career Ladder Education for Genetic Counselors grant at kathleen.valverde@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.