Human Genetics Courses

Home of the nation’s first—and still the largest—program in genetic counseling, Sarah Lawrence College has trained more genetic counselors than any other academic institution in the world. This celebrated program integrates education, health care, and humanism as it prepares genetic counselors to work in a growing, dynamic field.

Students learn that the field of genetics now includes genetic disorders ranging from rare diseases to prevalent conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. Each student is placed at a total of seven sites from a wealth of fieldwork options at nearly 50 centers in the New York City area. As the hub of international growth in the field, the College recruits to its faculty top scientists, physicians, and genetic counselors from the area’s genetic centers and brings leading researchers and speakers to campus weekly to discuss current topics. Each student also develops a community outreach project, targeting an audience to educate about a particular set of relevant genetic information.

MS Human Genetics 2025-2026 Courses

Fieldwork IV

Fieldwork—Spring

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to be exposed to genetic counseling, observe the role of a genetic counselor, and practice their skills with patients. Students will participate in genetic counseling sessions in a supervised environment. Across each student's fieldwork path, there is a concerted effort to ensure a diversity of specialty, patient populations, practice settings, counseling and supervision styles, and service delivery models. Most placements conducted during the academic year are based in the greater New York area.

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Fieldwork III

Fieldwork—Spring

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to be exposed to genetic counseling, observe the role of a genetic counselor, and practice their skills with patients. Students will participate in genetic counseling sessions in a supervised environment. Across each student's fieldwork path, there is a concerted effort to ensure a diversity of specialty, patient populations, practice settings, counseling and supervision styles, and service delivery models. Most placements conducted during the academic year are based in the greater New York area.

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Fieldwork II

Fieldwork—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to be exposed to genetic counseling, observe the role of a genetic counselor, and practice their skills with patients. Students will participate in genetic counseling sessions in a supervised environment. Across each student's fieldwork path, there is a concerted effort to ensure a diversity of specialty, patient populations, practice settings, counseling and supervision styles, and service delivery models. Most placements conducted during the academic year are based in the greater New York area.

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Fieldwork I

Fieldwork—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to be exposed to genetic counseling, observe the role of a genetic counselor, and practice their skills with patients. Students will participate in genetic counseling sessions in a supervised environment. Across each student's fieldwork path, there is a concerted effort to ensure a diversity of specialty, patient populations, practice settings, counseling and supervision styles, and service delivery models. Most placements conducted during the academic year are based in the greater New York area.

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Thesis I

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

The goal of the thesis project is twofold: provide students with the skills necessary to do high-quality, ethical research and develop genetic counselors who are careful and effective consumers of scientific literature. Thesis projects take many forms including surveys, focus groups, development of educational materials, analysis of existing data sources of and for patients, genetic counselors, and other healthcare providers.

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Thesis II

Thesis—Spring

The goal of the thesis project is twofold: provide students with the skills necessary to do high-quality, ethical research and develop genetic counselors who are careful and effective consumers of scientific literature. Thesis projects take many forms including surveys, focus groups, development of educational materials, analysis of existing data sources of and for patients, genetic counselors, and other healthcare providers.

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Advanced Research Methods

Seminar—Spring

This course will serve as an introduction to the research process, with multiple connections to the development of student thesis projects. Students will simulate all steps of the research process, including the construction of a literature review, study design and methodology, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and dissemination of findings. 

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TBA

Introduction to Fieldwork: Practicum

Seminar—Year

Credit is awarded after successful completion of yearlong course. Restricted to Second Years.

This course will utilize a simulated patient model to provide students the opportunity to practice genetic counseling skills and build self-efficacy in a low stakes learning environment. Students will participate in live, facilitated, simulated patient encounters, followed by individualized verbal and written feedback and small group debrief sessions.

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Special Topics in Genetic Counseling: Boards Preparation

Seminar—Spring

This course will offer focused training on how to take the board exam. Class activities will consist of administering multiple choice tests in a timed environment and then reviewing answers as a class to discuss the best answer choices. 

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Clinical Pediatric Genetics

Seminar—Spring

This course will provide students with an in-depth introduction to a pediatric genetics counseling session, including diagnostic processes and assessment and exposure to natural history of common and complex genetic conditions through course-long case scenario examples. Client and family factors will be incorporated into such cases, allowing for the student to assume responsibility for their assigned client and experience the life of a pediatric genetics case from beginning to end. Course structure will include lecture, group discussion, and case presentation.

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Special Topics in Genetic Counseling: Genetic Counselor + Academy

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

Genetic counselors stay curious and current throughout their careers. We persistently engage in self-directed learning related to our work to keep pace with rapid changes in science, technology, social movements, and professional trends. The SLC Institute for Genomics has created a new kind of continuing professional learning; we call it GC+ Academy and it invites students to explore emerging areas of practice for genetic counselors. Courses include Business Mindsets, Systems Theory, Strategic Thinking, Diagnostic Advances, Therapeutic Advances, Medical Ethics, and Communication (precisionhealth.slc.edu/). This elective course will give you students access to engaging post-graduate learning opportunities that enable them to learn from experts in the field and see how they use their GC skills in innovative ways to propel their careers in new directions.

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Advanced Human Genetics

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to First Years.

Students will be provided with a foundation in human genetics principles and concepts. The course will be organized into lectures, self-study activities, and team-based learning. Student-driven activities will enable students to apply in a clinically relevant way information presented in the lectures and readings.

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Disability Studies

Seminar

Restricted to First Years.

This course will broadly cover contemporary topics of disability. Through guest speakers, panels, and internships, students will gain an understanding of the impact of disability, improved communication skills with individuals, families, and service providers, and an increased awareness of the contributions that genetic counseling can make to persons with and without disabilities.

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Fundamentals of Genetic Counseling I

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to First Years.

Students will be introduced to skills necessary for genetic counseling. The course will be structured around key components of a genetic counseling encounter. Readings will provide foundational knowledge of relevant concepts and class discussions will encourage comparison of different perspectives and applications. Course instructors will demonstrate each skill and students will then engage in skill development through role-play, peer feedback, and self-assessment.

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Functional Human Anatomy and Medical Communication

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to First Years.

This course will provide students with an understanding of human anatomy and physiology of most of the major organ systems. Through course readings and oral presentations, students will learn to identify, synthesize, and understand physiological mechanisms of the human body; explain a genetic condition from a physiological standpoint using both technical terminology and lay language; and identify and access information resources pertinent to physiological diseases.

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Clinical Genomics

Seminar—Spring

This course will build upon topics covered in Advanced Human Genetics (GENE 7305). Early, current, and future uses of genomic technologies will be covered, especially as they apply to clinical care. Students will develop critical thinking skills related to testing strategies and genomic data interpretation, with a focus on whole exome sequencing variant interpretation. The course will also explore the psychosocial, ethical, and legal factors associated with genomic testing. Students will apply their learning to various case examples.

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Cancer Genetics

Seminar—Spring

This course will provide students with an understanding of cancer genetic counseling through case-based study of clinical services. Students will be introduced to the anatomy and physiology of affected organs, screening modalities and treatment options; become familiar with the pathology and cancer genetic counseling; interpret pedigrees and utilize cancer risk models; understand testing criterion, options and interpretation of results; and explore the psychosocial aspects of hereditary cancer syndromes.

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Evidence-Based Practice

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to First Years.

This course frames the healthcare literature as the foundation of evidence for clinical practice. Students will understand that in order for literature to be translated into clinical practice to best serve patients, practitioners must be critical consumers of publications. To build a foundation of evidence-based practice, students will explore processes of clinical research and examine definitions of evidence. They will develop their own evidence-based practice by learning how to collate judgments about available data – judgments which are perpetually uncertain, ambiguous, and complex as research adds to and alters our present knowledge of health. By the end of the course, students will grow to be consciously critical clinical practitioners who personalize their case preparation to their patients by embodying a practice grounded in research-derived clinical skills.

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Fundamentals of Genetic Counseling II

Seminar—Spring

Building on the skillset of Fundamentals of Genetic Counseling I (GENE 7306), this course will develop skills relevant to clinical risk assessment. By traversing the path from calculations to care, students will understand that risks are composite predictions for future disease, assessment of those risks enables a preventive approach to healthcare, and outcomes of risk assessment are mediated by risk perceptions. Course activities will include discussion, small group activities, demonstration, and role-play with peer feedback.

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Reproductive Genetics

Seminar—Spring

This course course will prepare students for clinical practice in reproductive genetic counseling. Using sample cases, students will offer and interpret genetic testing and develop case management skills. Students will be expected to read and present peer reviewed journal articles and utilize core genetics databases. Course structure will include lecture, interactive learning activities, and case discussion.

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Ethics

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to First Years.

This course will cover the principles of medical ethics, and their application in the field of genetic counseling. The significance of current and historical examples of eugenics, and how past abuses affect the clinical practices of genetic medicine today will be explored. Through a combination of lecture and discussion, the course will review hot button issues such as abortion, ‘designer babies’, and genetic engineering. The course will also cover legal and ethical dilemmas with specific relevance to genetics, including genetic discrimination, the genetic testing of minors, and the extent of a genetic clinician’s responsibility to biological relatives.

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Special Topics in Genetic Counseling: Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Past, Present, and Future

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing is a fast-growing and expanding marketplace. Many assume that DTC options will play a big role in integrating genetics into society, for better and worse. Historically, clinical providers of genetic medicine have cast a cold eye on the commercial companies selling unmediated access to genetic testing, as have government regulators. Today, most positions are more nuanced and the types of testing that are on offer are more varied. Using lecture, case studies, and guest speakers, we will examine a variety of the tests and modes of access often lumped together in the DTC bucket, and consider the risks and benefits of online access to genetic testing, the regulatory options, and the role that genetic counselors should play in pre- and post-test counseling for DTC results.

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Medical Genetics I

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

This seminar will introduce students to advanced topics relevant to clinical genetic counseling. Experts in the field will discuss topics ranging from significant genetic conditions and syndromes to current testing options. Students will learn from and interact with authorities in their respective fields, gaining an in-depth understanding of the genetic conditions covered in the course and related issues they will encounter in their careers.

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Medical Genetics II

Seminar—Spring

This seminar will introduce students to advanced topics relevant to clinical genetic counseling. Experts in the field will lecture on topics ranging from significant genetic conditions and syndromes to current testing options. Students will learn from and interact with authorities in their respective fields, gaining an in-depth understanding of the genetic conditions covered in the course and related issues they will encounter in their careers.

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Genetic Counseling Seminar

Seminar—Fall

Restricted to Second Years.

This course will navigate multiple topics on professional development and preparation for working life, including the job search, networking and negotiation, and long-term career planning.

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Case Management Practicum

Seminar—Spring

This practicum course will utilize a simulated patient model to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate and assess their skill levels in competencies necessary for the practice of genetic counseling. Students will participate in prepared role-playing exercises, followed by class discussion and feedback. The course structure will allow students to demonstrate competence in key skills; assess their own strengths and weaknesses and those of their peers; and formulate a plan for addressing areas needing improvement.

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