From the moment I interviewed for a
genetic counseling program, the idea of working on a thesis was at the front of
my mind. Knowing that at some point you’ll write a paper that’s likely to be
the biggest paper you’ve ever written can be daunting to think about. As your
time through school progresses, you’ll find that some of your classmates know
the topic they would like to research, and some have absolutely no clue.
Remember that both of these scenarios are totally fine! I was lucky enough to
know what topic I wanted to focus on, but how do you get started on finding
ideas if you don’t already have one? I can offer three main bits of advice: 1)
make yourself a small note whenever you think something is interesting; 2) talk
to your classmates as early as you can; and 3) begin talking to the genetic
counselors at your observations and rotations.
When I was trying to think of ideas
for my practicum (something specific to the MPH program) I found it very
helpful to jot down quick ideas or facts I found interesting that we covered in
classes. My computer screen at home was covered in sticky notes of general
ideas that I wanted to look into later. I think this is helpful because it
makes you start to think about what actually interests you. You’re never going
to be able to write an entire thesis on a topic that you don’t find
interesting. Even if you don’t end up using one of those ideas, it may be
helpful in at least narrowing down what area of genetic counseling you’d like
to study with your thesis. Talking to your classmates and discussing thesis
topic ideas early on can also be incredibly beneficial. It may feel
intimidating at first to hear that some people already have their exact idea,
but it can also be helpful to hear what other people are studying because it
may spark some ideas for you, or it’s possible someone may have multiple ideas
and you’re able to look into an idea they decided not to pursue, or they may
know of research ideas that local genetic counselors have mentioned would be
good projects for students. That leads me right to my third piece of advice.
Talk to your genetic counselors while you’re on observations and rotations.
Chances are, they’ve thought of something they think would be an interesting
topic for students and they may be willing to share. I work as a GCA in the
Division of Genetic and Genomic Medicine at Children’s and over the past few
years I’ve heard many counselors mention ideas that they would be happy to
explain to students or connect them with the appropriate people if the student
wanted to work on the project.
Starting your thesis can be scary.
Even when you have an idea, it still takes time to narrow it down to a specific
research question. Starting to think about ideas early and using some of the tips
I mentioned above will hopefully help to move things along more smoothly and
make the process a little bit more manageable. Good luck!
-Julia Knapo
MSGC, MPH Student
