Education in personalized medicine

As of 2009, the primary of the care physicians did not have adequate training in genetics or genomics.^[2] Although medical school curricula typically include medical genetics, fewer than half offer a standalone course, and the emphasis on practical applications is weak.^[1][2][6]

In the United States,

In 2010, the University of California, Berkeley offered entering students a genetic test for SNPs affecting alcohol, lactose, and folate metabolism.^[12][13] The goal was “to spark discussion during orientation on how genetic testing works, the results of the students' tests and their decisions on whether or not to participate.”^[8] However, criticism of the program led to an informational hearing by the California State Committee on Higher Education, and a bill was introduced by Chris Norby to prevent California state universities from genetically testing their students.^[14][15] The California Department of Public Health concluded that the program constituted clinical testing, and the university released only aggregate information instead of personal results.^[16][17]

As described in the preceding section, in some courses on personalized medicine, students have been able to study their personal genetic information. For the Stanford course, which was designed for graduate and medical students, a review was conducted in 2009-2010 by a “joint genotyping task force” including research and clinical faculty, biomedical ethicists, genetic counselors, and legal counsel.^[4][12] The recommendations adopted included: making genetic testing optional (with instructors blinded to the choice of the students), strict data confidentiality (only aggregate data was made available during discussions), incorporation of lectures discussing issues related to personal genotyping, and availability of genetic counseling to students if necessary.^[4]

See also

• Medical education
• Genetic testing

References