“Our vision is to increase diversity in the genetic counseling profession and engage underrepresented minority communities to address health disparities so that all communities and populations have access to genetic counseling and genomic medicine.”
- Christina Palmer, MS, PhD, LCGC, Program Director

UCLA is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is located in one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States. This means that UCLA faculty, students, and staff are privileged to know and work with people from different backgrounds and these interactions enhance the quality of our students’ experience and education.

Our genetic counseling master’s program is located in the well-respected Department of Human Genetics within the David Geffen School of Medicine, a top 20 medical school. In addition to the medical school, UCLA has the Fielding School of Public Health, School of Law, Anderson School of Management, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, Samueli School of Engineering, Herb Alpert School of Music, School of Theater, Film, and Television, and a College of Letters and Science all on the same campus. This means that our students are learning in an environment rich with creativity and opportunity.

The objectives of this master’s program are to train diverse cohorts of genetic counseling students to:

• Engage in an evidence-based practice that incorporates advanced knowledge in genetics, genomics, and psychosocial counseling.
• Critically think, evaluate, and synthesize research findings to produce and disseminate new scientific research related to the discipline and practice of genetic counseling.
• Address and appropriately act on ethical, legal, and social issues in the discipline and practice of genetic counseling.

These objectives will be achieved through coursework taught by faculty, including genetic counselors, with broad expertise; a capstone research project conducted at a top-ranked research-intensive university under the direction of UCLA faculty; fieldwork experiences supervised by certified genetic counselors and geneticists in a broad array of settings with diverse patient populations and healthcare professionals; and interactions with genetic counselor role models as leadership mentors.