{"id":3670,"date":"2023-06-29T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3670"},"modified":"2023-06-14T14:08:01","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T13:08:01","slug":"making-the-genetic-counsellor-in-the-uk-1980-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2023\/06\/29\/making-the-genetic-counsellor-in-the-uk-1980-1995\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the \u2018Genetic Counsellor\u2019 in the UK, 1980\u20131995"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Article Summary by Jenny Bangham<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Genetic counsellors are medical professionals who help parents and patients interpret the results of genetic tests. Genetic testing is routine in pregnancy and paediatrics, and is becoming increasingly prevalent in other specialisms, such as oncology and cardiology. The results of genetic tests are potentially highly emotional\u2014provoking guilt, fear, confusion (as well as relief and joy)\u2014and can powerfully impact families, extended families and communities. Genetic counselling, then, can be pivotal to the way that people experience genetic medicine. This paper traces how the professional identity of the \u2018genetic counsellor\u2019 first took shape in the UK. It charts the early work of female genetic nurses and social workers, who in the 1980s carved out distinctive roles within NHS genetics centres. It describes the separate, specialist provision developed by sickle cell and thalassaemia counsellors\u2014especially pioneering Black nurses\u2014who developed new approaches in dialogue with racialized and underserved patient communities. It examines growing interest in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the tacit social and cultural conditions that affected how people experienced genetic counselling\u2014and considers how this cohered with attention from disability scholars, psychologists and social scientists. By describing these historical contributions, this paper explores the intersecting gendered, racialized and disciplinary politics of clinical genetics shaped the new professional role of the \u2018genetic counsellor\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Read the full article on the <a href=\"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2023\/04\/17\/medhum-2022-012472\"><em>Medical Humanities <\/em>journal website<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3671 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/06\/Bangham-Jenny-Portrait-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jenny Bangham Portrait\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/06\/Bangham-Jenny-Portrait-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/06\/Bangham-Jenny-Portrait.jpg 481w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>Jenny Bangham is a Wellcome University Award Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. She is a historian of medicine and the biomedical sciences, and studies how medical and research communities\u00a0have produced\u00a0scientific knowledge about human life. Her current Wellcome-funded project examines the history of genetic,\u00a0sickle cell, and\u00a0thalassaemia counselling in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This project\u00a0is tied to her broader aim to better\u00a0understand\u00a0how genetics\u00a0has become understood as such a powerful authority on human health, history and identity.\u00a0Before becoming a historian, she studied and worked as a scientist, earning a PhD in biology at University College London, then working as a laboratory geneticist in Edinburgh.<\/em><!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary by Jenny Bangham Genetic counsellors are medical professionals who help parents and patients interpret the results of genetic tests. Genetic testing is routine in pregnancy and paediatrics, and is becoming increasingly prevalent in other specialisms, such as oncology and cardiology. The results of genetic tests are potentially highly emotional\u2014provoking guilt, fear, confusion (as [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2023\/06\/29\/making-the-genetic-counsellor-in-the-uk-1980-1995\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15028],"tags":[15044],"class_list":["post-3670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal-announcements","tag-research"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Making the \u2018Genetic Counsellor\u2019 in the UK, 1980\u20131995 - Medical Humanities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&#039;This paper traces how the professional identity of the \u2018genetic counsellor\u2019 first took shape in the UK.&#039;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3670\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making the \u2018Genetic Counsellor\u2019 in the UK, 1980\u20131995 - Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#039;This paper traces how the professional identity of the \u2018genetic counsellor\u2019 first took shape in the UK.&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3670\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-29T09:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/06\/Bangham-Jenny-Portrait-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Pak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Pak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Pak\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0e11c1a9a0f1f9f2aa898a719652c44c\"},\"headline\":\"Making the \u2018Genetic Counsellor\u2019 in the UK, 1980\u20131995\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-29T09:00:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Bangham-Jenny-Portrait-225x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"research\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Journal Announcements\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3670\",\"name\":\"Making the \u2018Genetic Counsellor\u2019 in the UK, 1980\u20131995 - 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