The Department of Genetic Medicine offers a one-month clinical genetics elective rotation for eligible medical students and residents from the Johns Hopkins University and other institutions in the United States and abroad. The trainees who participate in this elective will have an opportunity to participate in outpatient genetics clinics and inpatient services and consultations. The learning objectives of this elective include:

1. Learn the systematic approach to evaluate patients with a known or suspected genetic condition
2. Be able to perform a comprehensive physical examination with an emphasis on the documentation of congenital anomalies and dysmorphic features.
3. Become familiar with natural history, etiology, inheritance, and management of several of the more common disorders seen by clinical geneticists.
4. Be able to elicit and construct a complete three-generation pedigree.
5. Be able to analyze a pedigree and determine possible modes of inheritance
6. Become familiar with genetic counseling for conditions with Mendelian inheritance (autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked), and conditions with non-Mendelian inheritance such as mitochondrial inheritance, multifactorial conditions and chromosomal abnormalities).
7. Be familiar with up-to-date genetic and genomic testing technologies and their applications in a clinical setting
8. Become familiar with online resources for physicians who care for patients with genetic disorders.
9. Become familiar with community resources and support groups for individuals with genetic and genomic disorders and their families
10. Learn clinical indications for patient referral to genetic services.
11. Develop an appreciation of the public health and health care systems (e.g. newborn screening, national guidelines) in which genetic medicine is practiced.

Elective Description

Under supervision of genetics attending physicians, the elective trainees are expected to work closely with genetics residents, genetics counselors, and other supporting staff to participate in clinical care and educational activities in both inpatient and outpatient settings at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  The Department of Genetic Medicine offers genetics services, specialty clinics and other educational activities:

Other Genetics Educational Activities

• Clinic genetics case conference
• Pre-clinic Chart Review
• IGM journal clubs
• IGM seminars series
• Current Topics in Clinical Genetics
• Brown Bag Resident Rounds
• Kennedy Krieger Institute Genetics Conference
• Skeletal Dysplasia conference