What is Genetic Counselling? (FutureLearn)

What is Genetic Counselling? (FutureLearn)

Learn about genetic counselling and what genetic counsellors do with this online course for healthcare professionals. Understand the role of genetic counselling in the genomic era. Who are genetic counsellors? Who has genetic counselling and what does a genetic counsellor do? On this course, you will find the answers to these questions whilst learning about the role of genetic counselling in healthcare and the genomic era.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

You will discover why people seek genetic counselling and how it compares in different contexts and countries. You will explore the main skills and knowledge genetic counsellors need, as well as their key responsibilities to patients. You will discuss the ethical issues of genetic counselling, and its opportunities and challenges for the future.

What topics will you cover?

  • Why people would see a genetic counsellor
  • Some of a genetic counsellor’s key tasks
  • A genetic counsellor’s key skills and knowledge: counselling skills, medical and scientific knowledge
  • Ethical issues in genetic counselling
  • What the future might hold for genetic counsellors

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • identify why people have genetic counselling and the different contexts in which people receive genetic counselling
  • describe the different skills and knowledges needed by genetic counsellors
  • compare genetic counselling in different contexts and different countries
  • reflect on some ethical issues that arise in genetic counselling
  • discuss the role of genetic counselling in healthcare as we enter the ‘genomic era'

Who is the course for?
This course is designed for healthcare professionals, clinicians, biomedical research scientists, and anyone curious about genetic counselling.
Although not required, a basic knowledge of genetics, genetic testing technologies, and inheritance patterns would help support your learning on this course.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Quality Improvement in Healthcare: the Case for Change (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Bath

Quality Improvement in Healthcare: the Case for Change (FutureLearn)

Explore new and better ways of organising health and social care services, to improve quality, with this free online course. Why is quality improvement in health and social care systems so difficult? Why is it so challenging to bring in new and better ways of organising health and social care services? Many reasons have been put forward: lack of money; lack of knowledge about either the actual quality of care delivered, or resistance to making changes to long-established ways of working; excessive and sometimes misunderstood regulations; and professional opinions and interests that are hard to influence when systems are working at or beyond capacity.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Clinical Bioinformatics: Unlocking Genomics in Healthcare (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Manchester

Clinical Bioinformatics: Unlocking Genomics in Healthcare (FutureLearn)

Learn about the role of clinical bioinformaticians in healthcare and how their work is helping to realise the genomics revolution. This free online course aims to raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals of the role of Clinical Bioinformatics and Genomics in healthcare today.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Understanding Autism (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Kent

Understanding Autism (FutureLearn)

Understand more about autism, including diagnosis, the autistic spectrum and life with autism, with this online course. First identified over 70 years ago, autism is a lifelong developmental disability affecting how a person communicates with and relates to others, and how they make sense of the world. It is a spectrum condition; all people on the spectrum share certain difficulties, but their condition will affect them in different ways.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Achieving Sustainable Development (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Trinity College Dublin

Achieving Sustainable Development (FutureLearn)

Explore the challenges of sustainable development. See the impact of UN Sustainable Development Goals on real people. Consider the impact that UN Sustainable Development Goals could have. Governments of the world have signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a UN initiative for international development. They are targets for improving the world by 2030, including: health, environment, education, and security. But will they have an impact on the lives of people?

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Improving Health Assessments for People with an Intellectual Disability (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Trinity College Dublin,EIT Health

Improving Health Assessments for People with an Intellectual Disability (FutureLearn)

Learn how to improve healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities with this course for healthcare professionals. Detecting poor health and supporting people with an intellectual disability in managing their health can be challenging for healthcare professionals. During this course, you will gain valuable knowledge that you can transfer into your daily practice on how to include people with an intellectual disability in health assessments.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Human Factors in a Healthcare Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Human Factors in a Healthcare Environment (FutureLearn)

Learn how the study of human factors can reduce error in healthcare with this course for healthcare professionals. Discover how understanding human factors can improve patient safety. Human factors is the study of how humans behave and interact with each other and their surroundings. It considers how humans interact in the workplace and how, due to the inevitability of human error, mistakes are likely to occur.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Managing Change in a Healthcare Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Managing Change in a Healthcare Environment (FutureLearn)

Understand why change happens in healthcare environments and learn how to improve your response. In rapidly changing world, with new healthcare roles emerging and the complexity of care increasing, being able to respond to change is vital. On this course for healthcare professionals, you will explore the issue of change in healthcare environments, and learn how to improve your response to change.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Causes of Human Disease: Understanding Causes of Disease (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Causes of Human Disease: Understanding Causes of Disease (FutureLearn)

Learn the epidemiological methods used to understand the causes of diseases and how social factors influence their development. What causes human disease? Why do some people get a disease but others don’t? Through this course, you’ll learn how epidemiologists are helping to find answers to these complex questions and how the health of a population is measured and analysed.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Introduction to Health Technology Assessment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Glasgow

Introduction to Health Technology Assessment (FutureLearn)

Learn about health technology assessment (HTA) and quality of life (QoL), and how they’re used to decide which treatments to fund. Get an introduction to health technology assessment (HTA). This online course provides a short, interactive introduction to health technology assessment (HTA), based on the University of Glasgow’s successful online distance-learning programme, the MSc in HTA.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Infant Nutrition: from Breastfeeding to Baby's First Solids (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Deakin University

Infant Nutrition: from Breastfeeding to Baby's First Solids (FutureLearn)

Learn what good infant nutrition looks like, how and what to feed a baby, and how to start weaning. Explore the principles of good nutrition in the first 12 months of a baby’s life. In this insightful course led by nutritional experts from Deakin University, you’ll trace the milestones in a baby’s first year of life to learn about the principles of good infant nutrition and how you can apply them. You’ll explore the nutritional requirements of young children, as well as why healthy food for babies is so essential.

Self Paced
2 Weeks