Promoting international, locally focused, and patient-oriented genetic counseling

The profession of genetic counseling originated in the United States in the 1970s under circumstances that were specific to the individuals involved; the institutions and departments in which they worked; the theories, practice, science, culture, and ethnicities of the time; and local, national, and international events and history.1 As genetic counseling expanded, first in the United States and then internationally, it broadened in many ways to meet the needs and expectations of diverse patients, as well as the ever-advancing knowledge and technologies of medical genetics.