The department focuses on the theory and techniques for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative data. This area centers on the mechanisms of genetic variability and their impact on health at the population level. Of particular importance is the fraction of genetic variability that leads directly to disease or determines susceptibility to diseases. This area gives patients and families genetic, biomedical, and psychosocial information to help them make reproductive decisions. Training includes the prognosis, consequences, treatment, risk of recurrence, and prevention of pertinent diseases.
Students perform a clinical internship in their second year of the program.
This internship integrates the science of human genetics with the social, psychological, moral, and ethical issues of genetic counseling.