Genetic Counselor - Internal Medicine, Genetics

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Seeking a full-time Genetic Counselor to join the faculty of the Division of Medical Genetics in the Department of Internal Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. 

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:  

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees  
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year) 
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue! 
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service) 
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan! 

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as... 

• Free financial and legal counseling 
• Free mental health counseling services 
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs 
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc. 
• Resources for child and elder care 
• Plus many more! 

Position Summary:

Provides professional genetic counseling to individuals with genetic backgrounds which pose potential risk to their children in terms of hereditary disease or malformations.  

The genetic counselor will work in a cardiovascular genetics program affiliated with the UTHealth McGovern Medical School genetics clinic, multidisciplinary aortic and vascular disease clinic, cardiovascular surgical program, and other institutions in the Houston area, including Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. The genetic counselor will oversee and recruit patients for an international consortium to define the phenotype associated with genes triggering vascular diseases, the Montalcino Aortic Consortium. In addition, the genetic counselor will coordinate the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases, a collaborative program that raises awareness of aortic disease, provides accurate and timely genetic information to families with inherited vascular diseases. Applicants must be desirous of working in a highly interdisciplinary research and clinical setting, and participating in collaborative research efforts. The genetic counselor will provide genetic counseling for patients in a clinical/diagnostic setting (clinic and hospital) and will screen, consent, recruit, and gather data of patients/families for research and follow-up.

Position Key Accountabilities:

• Obtains patient and family historical medical data and interprets data obtained to determine possible problem area.
• Assists patients in understanding genetic disease or birth defects in order to provide professional counseling services.
• Assess patient needs as they relate to emotional stress, fear of test results, financial or transportation problems, marital conflicts or patient-physician conflicts so as to make proper referral recommendations.
• Update the medical records and keep team members appraise of patient problems.
• Refers patients for tests or to other assistance such as a social worker.
• Monitors information resulting from test results and agency referrals and reviews case for further evaluation to assure continuity of patient care and education of patient family in nature of disease/problem.
• May perform other duties as assigned.