Looking Back on the Future of Genetic Counselling in Canada

Abstract

This article focuses on how occupational roles and working relationships have changed over time for individuals involved in genetic counselling in Canada. It begins with a review of the stages of consensus that were reached about a role for geneticists and genetic counselling in clinical settings and, second, the formation of medical genetics as a service specialism. Interviews conducted by the author and survey data collected by the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors/L'Association Canadienne des Conseillers en Génétique are then used to examine role divarication in genetic counselling and the boundary realignment in inter-professional relations among physician and non-physician genetic counsellors. This leads, in a final step, to a summary of what the research shows about the changing face of genetic counselling in Canada and directions for future investigation.

Keywords: counseling génétique; genetic counselling; health professions; medical genetics; médecine génétique; professionalization; professionnalisation,; professions de la santé.