In this episode we are joined by two genetic counselors to explore the experience of being a male in our field.

Daniel Riconda (he/him) is a certified genetic counselor and Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. Dan joined the genetic counseling field in the late 80s and since then has been active in the field contributing to professional societies, graduate level programs and patient care.

John Zimmerman, MS, CGC, is a certified genetic counselor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. John completed his genetic counseling training at the University of Minnesota in 2017 and has since worked as a clinical genetic counselor with the UT Southwestern Cancer Genetics Program. Recently, he has taken on the additional role of Director of Fieldwork for the UT Southwestern Genetic Counseling Program. John is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, serving on the Access and Service Delivery Committee. He is also the current president of the Texas Society of Genetic Counselors.

Daniel Riconda, MS, CGC, (he/him) is a certified genetic counselor and Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas who received his M.S. in Genetic Counseling from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988. He obtained certification by the American Board of Medical Genetics in 1990 and became certified as a founding member of the American Board of Genetic Counseling in 1993. He is also a certified Resolve Through Sharing (RTS) bereavement counselor. He has served as an AtLarge Board member for the NSGC BOD (20152016) and has previously served as a member of that organization’s ethics committee, public affairs committee and cochair of their subcommittee on licensure. He served a 5 year term (20022006) as an (elected) board member of the American Board of Genetic Counseling (and as chair of the Accreditation committee for 3 years), served as the program services committee chairperson for the Florida March of Dimes, and has served on both the Florida & Texas public affairs committees for the March of Dimes. In 2022 he received a NortonRoseFulbright Faculty Excellence Award for Educational Leadership.

On This Episode We Discuss:
Navigating a profession that is predominantly female as male genetic counselors
Unique perspectives and contributions that male genetic counselors bring to the field, and how it benefits patients and the overall genetic counseling profession
Challenges and stereotypes our guests have faced as male genetic counselors and how they’ve addressed or overcome them
How the percentage of male genetic counselors has changed over the years
Steps that can be taken to encourage more men to enter the genetic counseling field and to support their growth and success once they are part of the profession
Advice for men considering a career in genetic counseling or those who have recently entered the profession
How male GCs are impacting the average salary
How our guests see the role of male genetic counselors evolving and contributing to the advancement of the genetic counseling field

Links to resources and references we mentioned in this episode:
Minority Genetics Professional Network (MGPN) (https://mgpn.chronus.com/)
NSGC's Professional Status Survey (https://www.nsgc.org/PolicyResearch...)
Chen A, Veach PM, Schoonveld C, Zierhut H. Seekers, Finders, Settlers, and Stumblers: Identifying the Career Paths of Males in the Genetic Counseling Profession. J Genet Couns. 2017 Oct;26(5):948962. doi: 10.1007/s1089701700711. Epub 2017 Mar 14. PMID: 28289854.
Kopesky JW, Veach PM, Lian F, Leroy BS. Where are the males? Gender differences in undergraduates' interest in and perceptions of the genetic counseling profession. J Genet Couns. 2011 Aug;20(4):34154. doi: 10.1007/s108970119365x. Epub 2011 Apr 20. PMID: 21505919.
Barnett, C., Myers, M. F., Spaeth, C. G., Pilipenko, V., & Bucheit, L. A. (2020). The gendered pay gap in genetic counseling. Journal of genetic counseling, 29(2), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgc4.1236.

Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on August 18th, 2023! New episodes are released every Friday. In the meantime, you can binge 250 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel.

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