Mind the Gap (Year)
In May of 2017, I walked across a stage in 90 degree weather and was handed a piece of paper that suddenly validated all of the work I had done in the last four years of my life. However, that was not the remarkable part of my undergraduate career.
I am very fortunate to have my amazing genetic counseling mentor, who advised me very early on in our relationship to get some counseling experience during my gap year. She specifically recommended that I get experience with crisis counseling, particularly because as a genetic counselor I will be dealing with patients who may go through a myriad of emotions (and yes, even moments of crisis) during my sessions with them, and I will need to be able to counsel them, without letting it affect my own mental health (it all comes back to self-care!).
So, I sought out crisis counseling experience through Crisis Text Line. This free-to-use text-based service has thousands of trained crisis counselors from all around the world, ready to respond to all kinds of crisis 24/7. I'm just finishing up my training program to be a crisis counselor, and will start volunteering with them in early December. This particular service was appealing to me because it allowed me to get real, hands-on crisis counseling experience, the freedom to volunteer from home, and very flexible schedule, that allows me to volunteer at any time of the day (yes, even at 3am).
Unlike most undergrads, I never did any undergraduate research. Looking back on my undergraduate career, I don't regret that decision. I know now that if I had tried to take on a research project, on top of my other extracurricular activities, my mental health would have suffered as a result. However, now that I'm in my gap year (it's more like a gap year and a half, but we'll get into that in another post) I have much more time to devote to finding a research project.
As of this December, I will officially be a part of Dr. Kimonis' lab in the University of California at Irvine's Department of Pediatrics. I have the opportunity to participate in clinical research (something I have no previous experience in whatsoever) on rare diseases. Dr. Kimonis' research focuses on finding genetic clues behind rare childhood diseases and hosting clinics for patients all across the country with the goal to learn more about how these diseases affect individuals. I am looking forward to participating in clinical research and gaining some experience with genetic counseling of rare diseases.
So far, these are the major steps I've taken in preparing myself for applying to genetic counseling programs. Since I plan on applying for a Fall of 2019 admission, I still have a long way to go. If any GC students or licensed GC's have any suggestions on other things I can do in preparations, I'd love it if you could share them in the comments! If you're a student who wants to know more details about my steps, feel free to ask!
All those leis + 90 degree heat = Heat stroke
For me, what I consider to be the most remarkable part of my undergraduate career is when I finally decided what I was going to do with my degree. I've always felt a lot of pressure to know what my next step was in life, especially when I was surrounded with so many intelligent and incredibly driven human beings. So, when I decided that I was going to be a genetic counselor, I was thrilled to have an idea of what my next step (more like steps) was.
So what are my next steps?
1. Take a Break
College is not easy. No one ever said it was, but oh boy were they telling the truth. In all honesty, being in college was incredibly taxing on my mental health. When I graduated it was important to me that I get my mental health back on track, so I knew well before I graduated and well before I even knew that I wanted to be a genetic counselor, that I wanted to take a gap year.
While school is important, so is your mental health. So my first step was to take time off and just have fun. I let myself be lazy, spent days in bed watching Netflix, took time to craft (something I very rarely had time to do in college), even travel a little, and most importantly spend time with friends and family. After about 3 months, I felt so refreshed and more like myself again.
Lanikai Beach | Kailua, HI
But my decision to take a gap year was also very important for me to have time to explore the field and gain the proper experience necessary to apply for genetic counseling programs.
2. Shadow some (Amazing) Genetic Counselors
Since the field of genetic counseling is relatively new, and growing very rapidly, my university didn't have very many resources available for me to learn about the field. I was forced to seek out my own resources, but I knew that the best way for me to really experience this field was to shadow some genetic counselors. So, the first thing I did was go to the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC)'s website to see if I could find a genetic counselor near me who would be willing to let me shadow him/her. Luckily, the NSGC has a great database of genetic counselors that allows you to search by location, specialty, and even if the genetic counselor is open to student contact!
I was put in contact with the amazing counselors at St. Joseph Hospital's Cancer Center and quickly applied to volunteer with them. I can not express how much this opportunity has been so amazing for my education and growth. I am able to get hands on experience shadowing counseling sessions, working with pedigree programs (specifically, Progeny), and being exposed to clinical vocabulary. I am grateful to the counseling staff at St. Joseph Hospital because it has been so important for me to get this kind of hands-on experience because it really solidified that I had made the right decision. Plus, genetic counseling programs really like to see applicants with some genetic counseling experience!
3. Crisis Counseling
I am very fortunate to have my amazing genetic counseling mentor, who advised me very early on in our relationship to get some counseling experience during my gap year. She specifically recommended that I get experience with crisis counseling, particularly because as a genetic counselor I will be dealing with patients who may go through a myriad of emotions (and yes, even moments of crisis) during my sessions with them, and I will need to be able to counsel them, without letting it affect my own mental health (it all comes back to self-care!).
Photo by: Crisis Text Line | Link
So, I sought out crisis counseling experience through Crisis Text Line. This free-to-use text-based service has thousands of trained crisis counselors from all around the world, ready to respond to all kinds of crisis 24/7. I'm just finishing up my training program to be a crisis counselor, and will start volunteering with them in early December. This particular service was appealing to me because it allowed me to get real, hands-on crisis counseling experience, the freedom to volunteer from home, and very flexible schedule, that allows me to volunteer at any time of the day (yes, even at 3am).
4. Research! Research! Research!
Unlike most undergrads, I never did any undergraduate research. Looking back on my undergraduate career, I don't regret that decision. I know now that if I had tried to take on a research project, on top of my other extracurricular activities, my mental health would have suffered as a result. However, now that I'm in my gap year (it's more like a gap year and a half, but we'll get into that in another post) I have much more time to devote to finding a research project.
As of this December, I will officially be a part of Dr. Kimonis' lab in the University of California at Irvine's Department of Pediatrics. I have the opportunity to participate in clinical research (something I have no previous experience in whatsoever) on rare diseases. Dr. Kimonis' research focuses on finding genetic clues behind rare childhood diseases and hosting clinics for patients all across the country with the goal to learn more about how these diseases affect individuals. I am looking forward to participating in clinical research and gaining some experience with genetic counseling of rare diseases.
So far, these are the major steps I've taken in preparing myself for applying to genetic counseling programs. Since I plan on applying for a Fall of 2019 admission, I still have a long way to go. If any GC students or licensed GC's have any suggestions on other things I can do in preparations, I'd love it if you could share them in the comments! If you're a student who wants to know more details about my steps, feel free to ask!
Hi! Wondering how you were able to find a lab to volunteer in after graduating? I had some research in undergrad but it was not genetics related, and would love to find a way to get involved in some genetics work, but I don't know how to approach this post grad.
ReplyDeleteHello! I, too, have the same dilemma as Haley. In my undergrad I did some research, but i have struggled to find research opportunities post grad. When finding these opportunities did you just apply to as many positions as possible or did you leverage your GC mentor to find one of these positions?
ReplyDeleteI know this is almost three years since you posted this, but I'm sure there are others who will eventually be applying that may be in the same situation.
Thank You and this blog is so useful!