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abstract
With the increasing
awareness of genetic contributions to disease in Canada, the
availability of and demand for genetic testing has soared. Genetic
counseling is becoming a recognized and rapidly growing (yet
unregulated) health profession in Canada. We hypothesized that the
potential risk for harm to the public posed by genetic counseling
practice in the province of Ontario is sufficient to consider
regulation. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHTLC)
sets criteria (both primary and secondary) to identify health
professional bodies that meet the threshold for regulation in the
province. We developed a survey based on the MOHTLC criteria to
determine if genetic counselors meet the primary criteria to be
considered for health professions regulation in Ontario. We surveyed 120
Ontario genetic counselors about their clinical practice and
perceptions of risk for harm to the public. Results indicate that
Ontario genetic counselors are highly independent in their clinical
practice and are involved in patient care activities, clinical judgement
and decision-making that have the potential to harm patients. In
particular, cancer genetic counselors were identified as a cohort that
practices with relatively high autonomy and low supervision. In summary,
our study indicates that genetic counseling practice in Ontario meets
the primary criteria to be considered for regulation.
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