Compiling of curriculum for the Master of Science in genetic counseling

INTRODUCTION: The demand for genetic counseling has been greatly increased in the recent years in Iran and the entire world. However, there are no systematic training courses for genetic counseling in the country. The purpose of this research was compiling the curriculum for the Master of Science (MSc) in genetic counseling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted in 2010 and 2011 in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. A questionnaire with 25 questions was prepared based on the literature review. The assessment was conducted by using the questionnaire as well as outcome of group discussions with three geneticist groups including, members of the board of medical genetics, genetics graduate students, and practitioners in genetic counseling. The curriculum was designed after determining the educational needs and priorities by the genetic board. RESULTS: The results of this research led to set the educational goals for the MSc in genetic counseling. Finally, the course curriculum was compiled. DISCUSSION: The designed MSc in genetic counseling in this study was generally similar with the courses in other universities. Although, the assessment results were different in some cases with the same academic courses such as to give more importance to basic medical needs in comparison with the needs of clinical sciences. Therefore, more attention should be paid on prerequisite courses rather than the rotational periods in the hospital. Among the reasons for this difference, it could be noted to the differences in undergraduate educations and differences in the status of provided genetics services in Iran. The final conclusion of this research was to design a fundamental course to overcome one of the severely tangible requirements in the country field of health, namely genetic counseling.