In follow-up to our series on elective rotations, Krista Qualmann writes below about her experiences rotating at a Pharmacogenomics Company. Though this was not an elective rotation, Krista was the first person to participate in this opportunity. Also check out our previous elective rotation posts about the International Adoption Center, Starshine Hospice, and Bioethics.
One of the things that drew me to the University of
Cincinnati’s Genetic Counseling Program was the wide variety of clinical
rotation opportunities. I think that it
is important to gain experience both with different supervisors and in
different settings in order to gain a full picture of the variety of roles that
genetic counselors can participate in during their career. This spring I had the opportunity to be the
first genetic counseling student to rotate through a newly added
pharmacogenomics and industry rotation at Assurex Health (http://assurexhealth.com).
Assurex Health is a personalized medicine company that uses
their “GeneSight” testing panels to combine an individual’s pharmacogenetic
testing results with knowledge of drug metabolism pathways in order to help
physicians determine which psychotropic, ADHD, or pain medications may work
best for patients. During my rotation, I
participated in weekly Science Team meetings, which included company leaders,
employees, and other rotating students, such as PharmD candidates and
undergraduate co-ops. There, various
team members shared their progress on individual research projects and received
critique in a collaborative working environment. I was assigned my own research project in
which I investigated the merit of adding an additional gene to one of the
company’s panels. I presented the
results of my research at the Science Team meeting at the conclusion of my
rotation.
In addition to my research, I practiced customer service
responsibilities by participating in physician and patient consults via
telephone. I also worked with the
marketing team to help create physician and patient-friendly education material
to be added to Assurex’s website. As an
added bonus, I received my own GeneSight test results and was able to
experience first-hand what it is like to learn those results and incorporate
them into my personal identity.
During this rotation, I was able to explore many of the
non-traditional roles that genetic counselors are taking on in laboratory and
industry positions. I think that this is
an important opportunity for students to have, especially as the demand for
genetic counselors in industry increases.
Genetic counselors are trained in a unique skill set that can be applied
to many different situations. As our
field expands, we also need to be able to apply those skills to new
environments. I had a wonderful
experience working with everyone at Assurex Health and highly recommend the
rotation to future students.
