The American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) committees are hard at work pushing forward toward its 2026 goals and beyond. Get a more detailed look at what they're focused on right now:
Continuing Competence Committee (CCC)
The CCC has been working hard at developing new Learning Scenarios and streamlining related processes. The CCC met in Chicago in June and considered new scenario topics for 2027. We also discussed and have initiated several process improvements, including partnering more regularly with the DEIJ committee.
Also in June, Co-Chairs Claire Davis and Monica Marvin and ABGC Executive Director Heather Rich participated in a DNA Today Podcast with Kira Dineen. The episode explores the rationale behind the Learning Scenarios and how the requirement works.
We hope that you received the announcement that the third Learning Scenario launched in September 2026. The committee hopes to have a total of five Learning Scenarios available for CEU credit in 2026, with the 4th and 5th to be launched in November and December.
As a reminder, the new Learning Scenario requirement takes effect as each Diplomate enters a new recertification cycle on or after January 1, 2026. We encourage all Diplomates to complete the Learning Scenarios as they launch (whether in a new recertification cycle or not), to understand how they are structured, to learn from the exercises and to gain the free CEUs. Please see the ABGC website for additional information, including the table describing the timeline of the Learning Scenario requirement based on recertification cycle schedule.
The CEC has had an active and exciting 2026 thus far! After a successful kickoff and item review meeting early this year, we individually reviewed the August 2026 and February 2027 exams and then met as a team, working alongside Prometric to finalize the content of these exams. This process ensures that the items included on both exams are high-quality questions that accurately reflect the exam content outline. We also made the necessary edits and replacements to unscored questions and verified that the items on each exam do not cue one another or overlap extensively in content, and that they have accurate, updated references.
The CEC had a Problem Item Notification (PIN) meeting call in March and another one in September. PIN meetings review items from the most recent board exams that are flagged due to not performing as expected, whether that’s statistical performance and/or comments made by exam takers. The CEC carefully reviews these items, weighing feedback from CGC candidates, and then determines if the items should be kept, edited or retired.
Finally, the CEC is very excited about launching our 2026 item-writing campaign! We are in the process of recruiting genetic counselor volunteers to write new items that address important areas of need for the exam, including the replacement of outdated items.
As we move toward the end of 2026, the CEC remains committed to operational refinement and creativity, striving to maintain excellent quality of certification exams while adapting to the dynamic landscape that is intrinsic to genetic counseling!
Moving into the second half of the year, the DEIJ committee remains committed to ensuring that the ABGC Learning Scenarios and the needs-based certification scholarship are implemented according to best practices and are aligned with the evolving needs of our Diplomates. We also are moving our sights to new and related initiatives.
Learning Scenarios
The DEIJ and Continued Competence committees have implemented changes in the learning scenario development process to include a rigorous DEIJ Committee review. The DEIJ committee has been able to provide constructive guidance to the CCC committee on scenarios in development, and the two committees are positioned to collaborate on a greater level for development of new learning scenarios in the future. These additional steps help ensure both the content and its presentation remain aligned with ABGC’s commitment to excellence, inclusivity and continuous improvement.
Needs-Based Certification Scholarship
We are happy to share that we were able to aid 36 potential Diplomates with the cost of their August examinations, bringing the total number of scholarships awarded in 2026 to 44. We continue our commitment to ensuring equitable access to the profession by leveraging the time between exam cycles to review, improve and ultimately implement an updated version of the needs-based scholarship application process for the next exam cycle.
New Initiatives
For the remainder of the year, we aim to start the long-term review of the ABGC DEIJ Glossary that will help this document evolve into a functional and reliable educational resource for Diplomates in practice. We also plan to lay the groundwork for leveraging the data collected from the ABGC demographic reports to move beyond simply collecting data into statistical analysis of whether certification-related outcomes are consistent and equitable across demographic groups.