Tales from the Clinic

Medical genetics is a specialty of medicine that encompasses patients at all ages (prenatal, pediatric, adult), as well as all organ systems. As the genetic causes of more diseases have been discovered, medical genetics has grown beyond the traditional settings of prenatal and pediatric care, and now plays an important role in neurology, oncology, cardiology, preventive care, and precision medicine. Medical genetics providers include: physicians who are board-certified in clinical genetics, genetic counselors, who are master’s level professionals, and clinical laboratory directors, who may hold either an M.D., or a Ph.D. This session will feature a panel consisting of a three experienced genetics professionals from the University of Washington in Seattle (UW). The Genetic Medicine Clinic at UW was founded in 1959, and one of the oldest, largest, and most diverse genetics clinics for adults in the country. The Clinic serves >2,300 patients per year, including >1,000 cancer genetic patients, and >500 neurogenetic patients.
Dr. Hisama, Ms. Amendola and Dr. Konnick will present some of their memorable or challenging cases, highlight the “team approach” and contributions of each of their specialties to patient care, and answer questions about cases submitted from the virtual meeting attendees in real time.
This session is designed for health care providers to become familiar with situations when a patient can benefit from genetic consultation, and the different roles of board-certified genetics professionals.

Learning Objectives:

• Participate in a clinical case conference regarding patients with genetic conditions.
• Describe at least two implications of genetic testing for medical care.
• Discuss clinical scenarios where genetic evaluation is indicated, and some scenarios where it is not useful.