What kind of a physician is a clinical geneticist?
Although clinical genetics may be entered as a primary residency straight out of medical school, the vast majority of practitioners obtain certification in a primary specialty first (pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology) before entering a two to three year residency in genetics. The focus of training is on the evaluation of individuals with genetically determined problems, assessment of genetic risk for health and disease as well as reproductive risk. Geneticists think of diagnoses in the context of the family in which the problem has occurred. Often the patient presenting for evaluation is not the only member of the family needing information.
