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The UCSF Medical Genetics Residency is centered in the Division of Medical Genetics of the Department of Pediatrics, and has been primarily responsible for clinical service, education, and research in medical genetics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Our objective is to provide a program and environment for the training of physicians and laboratory specialists in the core medical science, viz., medical genetics, which not only targets the specific aims of a trainee, but also addresses genetic mechanisms and the biology of genetic disease. Medical Genetics as a specialty is unique in that basic science is incorporated into daily practice by virtue of the use of genetic and molecular biological testing, and the linkage of genotype to phenotype.
Medical Genetics at UCSF began 40 years ago within the Division of Medical Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics, and in those 40 years has been one of the top programs training leaders in Human Genetics. For more than 10 years, this program was part of the UCSF/Stanford Medical Genetics Residency program. This joint program resulted from the fusion of long existing ABMG-accredited clinical genetics training programs at Stanford and UCSF. Just this past year, it was decided that the joint program would split into two programs. UCSF applied to the Residency Review Committee (RRC) of the ACGME in 2009, and was approved as an independent Medical Genetics Residency program with four training slots starting in July 2010. The Biochemical Genetics Laboratory training of the residents in the UCSF program will continue to receive their training at the excellent Stanford Biochemical Genetics Laboratory.
The UCSF Medical Genetics Residency is a two-year residency for physicians who have already completed at least two years of training in an ACGME accredited residency program in another primary specialty, e.g., pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, family practice, etc. In addition, our residency program is also the medical genetics portion of the UCSF Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Fellowship training program, a joint program between the UCSF Medical Genetics Residency and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The MFM Fellows participate completely in the UCSF Medical Genetics Residency and complete all of the rotations and clinics as all Medical Genetics Residents (see below). The educational goals of the Medical Genetics Residency Program are listed below. These goals are attained through clinical and laboratory training and experiences, didactic instruction, attendance at conferences and journal clubs, and the conduct of the individual research.
Goals of the UCSF Medical Genetics Residency Program include:
- The resident shall attain a working knowledge of the principles and concepts of basic, human, and medical genetics, including the principles of population genetics, risk assessment, and Bayesian analysis, and shall be able to apply that knowledge to the practice of medical genetics.
- The resident shall be familiar with and be able to use effectively textbooks, journals, databases, and other sources of information to further his/her practice of medical genetics.
- The resident shall be competent to obtain, record, and interpret detailed family histories and pedigrees.
- The resident shall acquire a knowledge of the physical and laboratory diagnosis of a broad range of inherited and acquired genetic disorders, congenital malformations, and mental retardation syndromes in children and adults.
- The resident shall be competent to provide risk counseling for common inherited cancer syndromes in children and adults.
- The resident shall be competent to provide clinical laboratory services to infants, children, and adults.
- The resident shall have a knowledge of the procedures for the newborn screening and diagnosis of inherited metabolic disorders, and should be able to manage affected individuals.
- The resident shall understand the methodologies, interpretation, and limitations of cytogenetic, biochemical, and molecular genetic laboratory tests.
- The resident shall know the methods, risks, benefits, and limitations of procedures used for the prenatal screening, detection, and treatment of genetic disorders.
- The resident shall be familiar with interviewing and counseling techniques and be able to recognize and address the psychological implications of a genetic condition in a person and/or family.
- The resident shall know the methods, limitations, and psychological implications of procedures used for the presymptomatic detection and treatment of genetic disorders.
- The resident shall have a knowledge of the ethical, legal, and social implications of practice and research in medical genetics.
- The resident shall formulate conduct, and write-up a research project relevant to medical genetics.
The program is directed by Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, who is the Charles J. Epstein Professor Human Genetics and Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics. The Associate Director is Katherine Rauen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. |
