The Medical Genetics Residency Program in the Division of Medical Genetics benefits from The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) and its many resources including: 1) excellent faculty with a breadth of experience in clinical skills, teaching, and research; 2) a long-standing clinical program delivering comprehensive genetic care for the state of Iowa and surrounding states; 3) diverse laboratory facilities; 4) diverse registries such as the Iowa Registry for Congenital & Inherited Disorders (IRCID), the Newborn Screening program (NBS), and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC) Oncology Registry; and 5) clinical and laboratory-based research opportunities.
The faculty of the Division of Medical Genetics, as well as faculty from other Pediatric Divisions and Departments with expertise in genetics, are experienced educators and committed to providing a high quality, well-rounded educational experience for the medical genetics resident(s). Access to numerous patients requiring genetic services through the UIHC General Medical Genetics clinic, the extensive RGCS program, the Metabolic Genetics Clinic, the Connective Tissue Disorders Clinic, the Neuromuscular Disease clinic, the Craniofacial Clinic, the UIHC Ophthalmologic Genetics Clinic, and an active inpatient consultation service all housed at UIHC, is one of the major strengths of the program.
Our clinical laboratories include the Clinical Cytogenetics and Clinical Molecular Genetics through the UIHC are another major strength of our training program. Each are recognized as top clinical laboratories in the country.
Research opportunities offered by the program are also outstanding, and are available in laboratory facilities including the Eckstein Medical Research Building (EMRB) and the newly constructed Medical Education Research Facility (MERF). Laboratory research is extremely well funded within the Division of Medical Genetics, the Department of Pediatrics, and the College of Medicine as a whole, with major sources of funding including The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The Residency Program in Medical Genetics takes place in an extremely strong research environment. The University of Iowa is a leader in medical genetics research with strong programs including ophthalmologic genetics, genetics of hearing loss, genetics of craniofacial development, genetics of connective tissue disorders, and genetics of complex diseases, Genomics, and Bioinformatics. Clinical research opportunities also include, but would not be limited to, resources such as the IRCID, and other listed registries.
All of these resources at the UIHC will provide as excellent training environment for the resident in our Medical Genetics Residency program.
The Medical Genetics Residency Program at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) will train clinical medical geneticists to provide comprehensive diagnostic, management, and genetic counseling services for patients and families with genetic disorders and birth defects. During the course of the Medical Genetics residency training program, each trainee must acquire an understanding of basic genetic principles and familiarity with all of the major subdisciplines of the field. This will include (1) detailed knowledge regarding the basic science of genetics in general and human genetics in particular, (2) knowledge of genetic diseases in humans as well as related diseases which might be genetic or have a genetic component, (3) familiarity with the tests used in evaluation of genetic disorders, and (4) the ability to apply these to the evaluation of patients suspected to have a genetic disease. In addition, trainees should be able to obtain relevant family and medical histories, perform a physical examination, develop a differential diagnosis, select and interpret appropriate laboratory tests, discuss the prognosis of most common genetic disorders, provide clinical management of these disorders, interact with other health-care professionals in the provision of services for patients with genetically influenced disorders and provide accurate medical and genetic counseling to patients and families.
This training will require extensive experience in clinical evaluation of patients, information gathering relevant to the specialty of medical genetics, genetic counseling, and preparing lectures and seminars to many different groups. In addition, trainees must learn how to conduct clinical or laboratory-based research, and write manuscripts and research grants. A broad spectrum of clinical cases, coursework, conferences, and readings will cover general medical genetics, dysmorphology and teratology, prenatal diagnosis and screening, metabolism, cancer genetics, neurogenetics, and metabolic, molecular and cytogenetic laboratory technology.
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