Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan;10(1):85-93.
doi: 10.1007/s12687-018-0364-6. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Primary care providers' lived experiences of genetics in practice

Brittany Harding  1 , Colleen Webber  2 , Lucia Ruhland  2 , Nancy Dalgarno  3 , Christine M Armour  4 , Richard Birtwhistle  5 , Glenn Brown  6 , June C Carroll  7 , Michael Flavin  8 , Susan Phillips  6 , Jennifer J MacKenzie  9
Affiliations

Primary care providers' lived experiences of genetics in practice

Brittany Harding et al. J Community Genet. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

To effectively translate genetic advances into practice, engagement of primary care providers (PCPs) is essential. Using a qualitative, phenomenological methodology, we analyzed key informant interviews and focus groups designed to explore perspectives of urban and rural PCPs. PCPs endorsed a responsibility to integrate genetics into their practices and expected advances in genetic medicine to expand. However, PCPs reported limited knowledge and difficulties accessing resources, experts, and continuing education. Rural practitioners' additional concerns included cost, distance, and poor patient engagement. PCPs' perspectives are crucial to develop relevant educational and systems-based interventions to further expand genetic medicine in primary care.

Keywords: Education, Continuing; Education, Medical; Genetic services; Genetics, Medical; Primary health care; Rural health services.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethics compliance was received from the Queen’s University Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board (HSREB).

The HSREB operates in compliance with and is constituted in accordance with the requirements of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2); the International Conference on Harmonization Good Clinical Practice Consolidated Guideline (ICH GCP); Part C, Division 5 of the Food and Drug Regulations; Part 4 of the Natural Health Products Regulations; Part 3 of the Medical Devices Regulations, Canadian General Standards Board, and the provisions of the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA 2004) and its applicable regulations. The HSREB is qualified through the CTO REB Qualification Program and is registered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP). Federalwide Assurance Number: FWA#:00001173.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

References

    1. Bottorff JL, Blaine S, Carroll JC, et al. The educational needs and professional roles of Canadian physicians and nurses regarding genetic testing and adult onset hereditary disease. Public Health Genomics. 2005;8:80–87. - PubMed
    1. Bottorff JL, McCullum M, Balneaves LG, Esplen MJ, Carroll J, Kelly M, Kieffer S. Establishing roles in genetic nursing: interviews with Canadian nurses. Can J Nurs Res. 2005;37:96–115. - PubMed
    1. Blashki G. Primary care psychiatry: taking consultation–liaison psychiatry to the community. Australas Psychiatry. 2005;13:302–306. - PubMed
    1. Burke W, Emery J. Genetics education for primary-care providers. Nat Rev Genet. 2002;3:561–566. doi: 10.1038/nrg845. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Burke S, Kirk M. Genetics education in the nursing profession: literature review. J Adv Nurs. 2006;54:228–237. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03805.x. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources