ABGC President’s Message: Listening, Learning and Preparing the Next Generation of Genetic Counselors
In my first President’s Message, I shared that helping candidates prepare for the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) Certification Examination would be one of the key goals of my tenure, and I approached that goal through communication with students, program directors and educational leaders. This goal ties directly into ABGC’s core value of responsiveness: the recognition of, and actions taken based on, emerging needs.
Preparing for and taking the board exam is one of the most important milestones in a potential Diplomate’s professional journey, and ABGC has a responsibility to ensure they have access to clear information, helpful resources and opportunities to have their questions heard and addressed. Over the past nine months, we have taken several important steps in that direction which were directly informed by conversations with program directors, students, Diplomates and other stakeholders.
Turning Feedback Into Resources
One of the projects I’m most excited about is the new student webinar titled “Insights into the ABGC Board Exam.”
The webinar was created after program directors shared that they were using another ABGC resource, designed for educators, with their students. The need for a student-focused resource was clear, and I wanted it to cover as much relevant information, tailored to the needs of programs and students, as possible. To be as intentional as possible in the webinar’s creation, we asked program directors to share the questions they were hearing from students and then presented early versions of the webinar to students from a handful of genetic counseling programs across the U.S., so their feedback could be incorporated into the final product.
Throughout the development process, I focused on incorporating content to ensure the final webinar addressed the questions and concerns of today’s candidates. The result is a practical resource designed to help candidates better understand what to expect on the exam and highlight options for exam preparation. It builds upon other ABGC resources to provide a demonstration of the use of exam preparation tools so candidates can analyze items on the board exam with greater insight and confidence.
For students who are wondering, "where do I start?" or "what should I expect?", we hope this webinar serves as a valuable guide.
Expanding Resources for Candidate Success
In our efforts to better support candidates, ABGC has also expanded its exam preparation offerings with the ABGC Study Guide (released November 2025) and the new Practice Exam (released June 2026). These tools were developed with one common goal: helping candidates better understand the examination experience and feel more prepared as they move toward certification.
The study guide gives insight into the exam’s content areas and preparation strategies, and the practice exam helps candidates familiarize themselves with the testing experience and question format. Together, these resources reflect ABGC’s ongoing commitment to providing clarity about the exam development process and development of candidate-support resources. As I noted in my earlier message, I believe candidates are best positioned for success when they understand not only what the exam measures, but also how it is developed and why the process exists.
As Always, We Want to Hear From You
The theme that connects all these initiatives is communication. ABGC will continue to innovate ways to help candidates on their journey to certification, and those initiatives will be the most fruitful when they include multiple perspectives and thoughtful dialogue with stakeholders.
The student webinar exists because educators and students shared their questions and expressed their needs regarding exam preparation. The continued development of our candidate resources is driven by feedback from both Diplomates and candidates. We hope to hear from you in our quest to improve and innovate.
As an organization, we hope that everyone will bring their questions, concerns and ideas directly to ABGC. Doing so allows us to provide accurate information, address misunderstandings and better understand where additional communication may be needed. Whether the topic is exam preparation, certification, continuing competence or the future of the profession, we welcome those conversations. We encourage students, candidates, Diplomates, program directors and other stakeholders to reach out through info@abgc.net and engage with us as we move forward.