Must doctors become genetic counselors?

Opportunities and impediments for a consolidating and expanding profession: genetic counseling in the United States

Genetic counseling in the United States is consolidating and expanding its professional identity at a point in time when major biotechnological advances are rapidly being incorporated into clinical genetic practice and major shifts in the American health care system are being carried out under a mandate of cost-containment. External factors--biomedical advances, political and economic contexts, managed care organizations, health economics criteria and exclusionary strategies of related health care occupations--combined with internal factors--training and certification requirements, specialization, leadership talent and ability to adapt to changing conditions--will strongly influence the structure and scope of genetic counseling services in the coming years.