Thread by @lizvarga

As a genetic counselor who first took and passed Boards in 2005, and will repeat them in 2022 due to inadvertent lapse in certification status, I have so many reflections on WHAT a GC needs to know now vs. then and also on HOW one prepares. Read more for reflections #GCchat 1/11

Back in the day the exam was only offered every 3 years. It was done by paper and pencil. I prepared using copious paper notes, books, notecards. I recorded myself on an audio handheld dictaphone and listened to audio tapes in my car or on my Walkman while exercising 2/11

I took an in-person Board review course done in a hotel with lectures and practice exams. I attended with classmates in another city. The content was printed and filed in a paper binder. Practice questions from other groups were shared via print outs. 3/11

We took the Board at a proctored test site with paper and pencil. Results were mailed many weeks later. The year of my exam they were mailed just before NSGC. Some had to have relatives at home open their results. 4/11

NOW- a junior GC sent me a link to her Google Drive with troves of content including PowerPoint lectures, comp exam notes, lecture notes, excel sheets with key info organized (metabolic syndromes). All content is organized in sub folders. 5/11

I can study from my phone from anywhere by accessing the drive. I can Google topics. I can search YouTube and readily find lectures on specific topics and listen/watch from anywhere. The content has expanded to new areas of genetics that I did not remember being tested on 6/11

Including cardiovascular genetics, neuro genetics, pharmacogenetics, psychiatric genetics- in 2005 there was not enough known to cover in depth. NGS did not exist. I have also noted an increase in research specific competencies (7 as of 2019). 7/11

Further, there are competencies on distance encounters- Telehealth and remote options were rare to nonexistent in 2005. Further there is a growth in competencies related to clinical supervision. 8/11

It is astounding to think about how far we have come since I last certified. NIPT and cfDNA is now clinically available when it was just a vision in 2005. Approaches to carrier screening have evolved dramatically. Focus on things like incidental findings… 9/11

And approaches to what is acceptable to test for in minors is exceedingly different. Our field and our world has evolved dramatically. I look forward to an online, virtually proctored exam, with rapid results the same day. I will have the opportunity 10/11

To proclaim victory or nurse my wounds on a social media platform- one that could not have even been imagined in 2005. What a tremendous journey…and yet it is just the beginning of what is possible. 11/11 #GCchat

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