Student Work Position: NYMAC Regional Genetics Network Graduate Student Worker

One of the big draws for me, as an applicant to Pitt’s Genetic Counseling Program, was the possibility of a student work position. My job at Pitt not only helps me pay my rent, it also has given me valuable experience working in the field of public health genetics.

I am a student worker for the New York-Mid Atlantic Regional Genetics Network (NYMAC), which is the regional genetics network that Pennsylvania belongs to, along with New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The regional genetics networks are responsible for coordinating regional public health efforts relating to genetics, such as access to services, increasing telegenetics and programs related to newborn screening.

One of NYMAC’s goals has been to improve the availability of genetics resources to everyone within the region, with a particular focus on improving access for people who live in underserved areas. As part of that effort, NYMAC launched a Genetic Services Referral Phone Line. This is where my job comes in: when someone calls the phone line, I answer it. I help callers find a genetics clinic near them, a telegenetics service they can contact, or another resource to help answer their questions.

The trouble is, very few people call this phone line. This is public health in practice – sometimes an intervention doesn’t work the way it was intended, and needs to be re-evaluated. Alyson Evans, a second year genetic counseling student working for NYMAC, is focusing her thesis research project to explore the reasons the phone line might not have been utilized as hoped, as well as other tools that might be more useful for connecting people to genetics services.

In the meantime, we focus our efforts on developing other tools that might help reach the same goals. Alyson and I have written Red Flags fact sheets, answering doctors’ questions about things like when they might consider referring a patient to genetics services.

We have also been working with the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) to update their Find a Genetics Clinic tool. This involves going through the internal directory of genetics providers within the NYMAC region, and making sure that they are all appropriately updated on the ACMG website. This tool allows people to search for genetics clinics by location and specialty type, to help connect them to appropriate services.

As we approach the beginning of the new grant cycle, we will be developing new ways to adjust our efforts. This spring, I will be attending the Innovations in Genetic Service Delivery Learning Forum in Washington, D.C. This forum was organized by the NYMAC team, gathering stakeholders from throughout the region to discuss how different delivery strategies might help improve access to genetics services.

Through my work with NYMAC, I have gained an appreciation of public health in practice, the chance to work with professionals in the field of public health genetics, and experience implementing public health interventions. I look forward to learning and experiencing more throughout this next year and a half.

Madeline Reding, class of 2021

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