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Human Genome News, January 1998; 9:(1-2)
The debut conference in the Continuing Medical Education (CME) series on genetics of the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) drew about 50 key educators from the nation's medical schools and societies to Santa Fe in July 1997. Participants at the conference, jointly sponsored by NCGR and the American Medical Association (AMA), explored the potential impact of clinical and ethical genetics issues on the practice of medicine.
"Bringing together prominent genetic scholars and clinicians to share their experiences and insight into real-life genetic dilemmas was educational for all of us," said Judith G. Ribble, NCGR's CME director.
Speakers at "Humans and the Human Genome Project: What Do Physicians Need to Know?" included Reed E. Pyeritz, president, and Joe Leigh Simpson, treasurer, of the American College of Medical Genetics; and Susan P. Pauker, a pediatric geneticist from Harvard Medical School. The program was chaired by Daniel L. Seckinger, AMA group vice president. In roundtable discussions and workshops, conference participants discussed how to integrate genetics into primary healthcare.
"When we make decisions about genetic testing, we're making decisions for people who are not yet born," Pauker told the educators, stressing the need for doctors to be able to counsel patients appropriately. "Our choices affect our children, our children's children, and their children."
NCGR's CME program is designed to disseminate information about genetics and genome research to physicians, focusing on doctors' ability to prevent genetic diseases, improve clinical outcomes of genetically related conditions, and empower consumers to make wise decisions regarding genetic testing. Experts agree that educating physicians is crucial to the success of genetic testing and counseling, and the NCGR CME employs conferences, computer-based training, Internet programming, and other teaching formats to accomplish this goal.
The next NCGR CME event is a symposium jointly sponsored with the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, "What Surgeons Need to Know About Inherited Colorectal Cancer," on May 3 in San Antonio. For more information, contact Ribble (505/995-4481, jgr@ncgr.org).
The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v9n1).
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.
