
What's Yours?
Whether it is the individuals and families with a genetic condition or disability, the professionals who serve them, or the students who have made genetic counseling their calling, everyone in our program has a story to share.
Whether it is the individuals and families with a genetic condition or disability, the professionals who serve them, or the students who have made genetic counseling their calling, everyone in our program has a story to share.
When Judith Tsipis joined the Brandeis faculty in 1976, her son Andreas had delays in his development, later diagnosed as Canavan disease. This personal experience inspired her to start the genetic counseling program to help families like hers.
As a child, Ana Sarmiento had to translate and interpret many complex documents for her Spanish-speaking mother. That ability to distill and present complex topics has served Sarmiento well in her genetic counseling work today.
The detection of a pathogenic variant in the CDH1 gene, which causes Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer, was the beginning of Beth Lambert and her family's journey confronting this genetic disease.
After 32 years and 32 graduating classes the Brandeis University Genetic Counseling Program will be closing. The Class of 2023 will be the final cohort of graduates. We are proud of all who have graduated from the Brandeis Program, the impact they have made and will continue too for years to come.
As the oldest program of its kind in New England, the Brandeis Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling was the first to harness the clinical and research communities in Greater Boston to provide training for future genetic counselors.
Today, our program and its nearly 250 graduates continue to play a pivotal role in the growth of the genetic counseling profession and the evolution of the genetic counselors' contributions — not only in the clinic, but also in research, education and industry.
Our students are intelligent, insightful and motivated to learn. They come to the program with a strong science background and experience in providing counseling to people in times of crisis. They leave with the skills and knowledge to combine the two, and provide meaningful and effective genetic counseling to patients under a wide variety of circumstances and from all walks of life.
Read more about our program history
As the mother of a child with a genetic condition, our program's founding director was the first to incorporate a strong focus on disability awareness into the training of genetic counselors.
Learning from individuals and families who are touched by disability or genetic disease is at the core our of students' education. From their community placements, to spending time with families, to hearing and reflecting on individual stories, our students gain valuable insights that we are confident will positively influence how they practice as genetic counselors.
discover how disability awareness is incorporated into our curriculum
Brandeis University is passionate about social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion at both the undergraduate and graduate levels — and our program's values align closely with this mission. In times of racial division in our society and our profession, we are reminded that there is still work to be done and we pledge to do our part.
We continue to adapt our curriculum to foster a rich and inclusive learning environment for students from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences. Our students are trained to recognize the specific needs of different patients and families; acknowledge and address health care disparities; and work to provide genetic counseling services to all who would benefit from them.
Brandeis University master’s degree program in genetic counseling is fully accredited through 2024 by:
Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling
7918 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 300
McLean, VA, 22102, USA
www.gceducation.org
Graduate Outcomes
For the last three graduating classes (2018-2020):
• 100% of our students completed their genetic counseling degree and graduated on time
• 100% of graduates who sat for the ABGC Exam are board certified, with a first-time pass rate during this time of 86.2%
• The majority (72.4% during this time frame) of graduates took the exam in August after graduation.
• 100% of our students had jobs within two months of graduation, with 90% of those actively looking having a job secured before graduation.
• The largest proportion of clinical jobs students accepted were in cancer, followed by prenatal then pediatrics.
• Graduates took jobs across New England as well as in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Louisiana, Colorado, California and Ontario, Canada.
“More than proud, I am fortunate to have attended a program committed to training genetic counselors who consider it an honor to serve those whose lives have been touched by genetic conditions.”
Ana Morales, MS, CGC
Class of 2001