Master of Science (ScM) in Genetic Counseling

As of August 21, 2024, the Genetic Counseling Training Program (GCTP), a collaborative effort between the Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Health, Behavior and Society and National Institutes of Health (NIH), will pause applications. The GCTP is temporarily pausing admissions to undergo program planning and development. Learn more.

The Johns Hopkins/National Institutes of Health Genetic Counseling Training Program is a joint effort of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society and the National Institutes of Health through the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The ScM in Genetic Counseling prepares graduates for a career in genetic counseling with an emphasis on clients’ psychological and educational needs. The program provides a solid foundation for conducting social and behavioral research related to genetic counseling and equips students with the necessary skills to educate health care providers, policymakers, and the public about genetics and related health and social issues.

The curriculum consists of coursework in the areas of human genetics, genetic counseling, health education, communication, ethics, public policy, and research methodology. The program also requires a minimum of 600+ contact hours of supervised clinical rotations in a variety of settings across more than 25 sites and a thesis study worthy of publication.

Accreditation: The ScM in Genetic Counseling is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling, and graduates are eligible to sit for the American Board of Genetic Counseling certification examination after completion of the program and a clinical log book demonstrating significant involvement in the evaluation and counseling of patients seen in approved clinical rotation sites.

Graduates of the JHU/NIH Genetic Counseling Training Program are qualified to work as genetic counselors in many different settings. Many will provide clinical genetic counseling services, but genetic counselors are increasingly working with genetic testing laboratories, advocacy organizations, or insurers. In addition, our graduates are well-positioned to work as genetic counselors in research settings, and almost a third of our alumni currently have a research element to their positions. For more information about genetic counseling careers, visit www.nsgc.org. Visit the Graduate Employment Outcomes Dashboard to learn about Bloomberg School graduates' employment status, sector, and salaries.

The curriculum for the master's degree consists of at least 149 credit hours of didactic coursework in the areas of genetic counseling, human genetics, public health, public policy, research methodology, bioethics and health communication and decision-making. For a list of courses and links to course descriptions, please click on the links below.

Browse an overview of the requirements for this master's program in the JHU Academic Catalogue, explore all course offerings in the Bloomberg School Course Directory, and find many more details in the program's Student Handbook.