Telesupervision in genetic counseling education during COVID-19 and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic led healthcare organizations to pivot to telemedicine, precipitating the shift to telesupervision, defined as supervision over video-conferencing platforms and telephone, for genetic counseling students. This study aimed to (1) characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on genetic counseling supervision, (2) ascertain genetic counseling supervisor experiences with telesupervision, and (3) examine the association between years of genetic counseling experience and preferences related to supervision modality. Certified genetic counselors were recruited through the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), Pennsylvania Association of Genetic Counselors (PAGC), and Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors (AGCPD) listservs and by purposive sampling via emails to Genetic Counseling Program Directors in program-rich regions. An investigator-created survey was administered online to elicit descriptions of supervision during the pandemic, including modifications to rotations, changes to the number of students supervised, and mode of supervision preference. The survey was completed by 122 genetic counselors. The 54-question survey included multiple-choice, ranking, and open-ended questions. The majority (95.9%) of the participants were female, with an average age of 32 years. Most (86%) of participants reported changes in their supervision practices due to COVID-19, including sole use of telesupervision (54.4%), decreases in rotation lengths (25.4%), and delays in rotation start dates (24.6%). Interestingly, 19.3% (22/114) supervised more students than before the pandemic, and 18.4% (21/114) of participants supervised fewer students. Approximately two thirds (67.5%) of supervisors preferred supervising students in-person, while 2.6% preferred telesupervision, and 29.8% had no preference. Those who preferred to supervise in-person had fewer years of experience than those who had no preference (median = 4 years vs. median = 7 years respectively, Wilcoxon_p-value = 0.0418, effect size r_pb = 0.19, small). Given the persistence of telemedicine beyond the pandemic, telesupervision may be necessary to train genetic counseling students. However, additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of telesupervision in facilitating student skill development and attainment of the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) Practice-Based Competencies (PBCs).