Improving Genetics Education in Graduate and Continuing Health Professional Education

Many health care providers do not have either the knowledge or the tools they need in order to apply genetic information in their day-to-day practices. This lack of support is contributing to a substantial delay in the translation of genetic research findings, when appropriate, into improvement in patient outcomes within the health care system. Although the need to improve genetics knowledge among health care providers is clear, the best approaches to educating health care providers in a way that produces meaningful changes in clinical practice are not, especially given the competing coursework and training needs that exist in today''s increasingly complex health care settings.

To examine the potential and the challenges of providing genetics education, the Roundtable on Translating Genomic-Based Research for Health of the Institute of Medicine hosted a workshop on August 18, 2014. The workshop examined a variety of approaches that could improve the teaching of genetics in the graduate and continuing education of health professionals; these approaches included online and interactive instruction, just-in-time approaches, the development of clinical decision-support tools, and the incorporation of genetics requirements into licensing and accreditation. This report summarizes the presentations and discussion of the event.