Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. Provide information to other healthcare providers or to individuals and families concerned with the risk of inherited conditions. Advise individuals and families to support informed decisionmaking and coping methods for those at risk. May help conduct research related to genetic conditions or genetic counseling.
U.S. Workers
3,510
Median Salary
$98,910
10-Year Growth
+9.3%
Annual Openings
300
Typical entry: Master's degree
19 of 19 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Write detailed consultation reports to provide information on complex genetic concepts to patients or referring physicians.
AI: Fully automatable - Given structured input (test results, history, annotations), AI can generate clear, detailed consultation reports that explain complex genetic concepts for patients and clinicians.
Provide patients with information about the inheritance of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can accurately and consistently explain inheritance patterns and disease risk for common conditions and generate patient-friendly educational explanations.
Prepare or provide genetics-related educational materials to patients or medical personnel.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can generate tailored, high-quality genetics educational materials for patients and medical personnel, including visuals and reading-level adjustments, with minimal human editing.
Explain diagnostic procedures such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS), ultrasound, fetal blood sampling, and amniocentesis.
AI: Fully automatable - As of 2025, AI can accurately generate clear, evidence-based explanations of diagnostic procedures (indications, techniques, risks, and follow‑up) though it cannot perform them clinically.
Interpret laboratory results and communicate findings to patients or physicians.
AI: Partial - AI can interpret genetic lab data and draft result explanations using variant databases, but final interpretation and communication require clinician oversight because of complexity, uncertainty, and ethical implications.
Discuss testing options and the associated risks, benefits and limitations with patients and families to assist them in making informed decisions.
AI: Partial - AI can present testing options, risks, benefits, and decision aids, but cannot fully replicate the personalized, empathetic counseling and shared decision-making delivered by human genetic counselors.
Analyze genetic information to identify patients or families at risk for specific disorders or syndromes.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze genetic data and flag known risk variants and compute polygenic risk scores, but interpretation of novel variants, complex pedigrees, and clinical integration still requires expert geneticist oversight.
Provide counseling to patient and family members by providing information, education, or reassurance.
AI: Partial - AI can deliver information, education, and scripted reassurance and support tools, but nuanced, empathetic counseling and management of complex emotions or family dynamics require human professionals.
Provide genetic counseling in specified areas of clinical genetics, such as obstetrics, pediatrics, oncology and neurology.
AI: Partial - AI can provide specialty-specific information and decision support across obstetrics, pediatrics, oncology, and neurology, but delivering comprehensive clinical counseling tailored to individual cases still needs human judgment.
Determine or coordinate treatment plans by requesting laboratory services, reviewing genetics or counseling literature, and considering histories or diagnostic data.
AI: Partial - AI can review literature, suggest lab work and potential management options, and draft care plans, but final determination, coordination, and responsibility for treatment require clinician oversight.
Interview patients or review medical records to obtain comprehensive patient or family medical histories, and document findings.
AI: Partial - AI can extract and document comprehensive histories from records and structured patient interviews, yet complex conversational interviewing and verification often need human involvement.
Assess patients' psychological or emotional needs, such as those relating to stress, fear of test results, financial issues, and marital conflicts to make referral recommendations or assist patients in managing test outcomes.
AI: Partial - AI can screen for psychological distress, triage, and recommend referrals, but assessing nuanced emotional needs, providing therapeutic interventions, and making sensitive referral decisions require human counselors.
Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in genetics.
AI: Partial - AI can rapidly read and synthesize current literature and summarize trends, but active professional networking, critical appraisal in context, and formal participation in organizations remain human activities.
Refer patients to specialists or community resources.
AI: Partial - AI can identify appropriate specialists and community resources and draft referral text or lists but cannot execute official referrals, verify availability, or manage consent and logistics without integrated systems and human oversight.
Design and conduct genetics training programs for physicians, graduate students, other health professions or the general community.
AI: Partial - AI can design curricula, create lectures, assessments, and training materials for genetics education but cannot fully replace human instructors for hands‑on, accreditation, and interactive clinical training components.
Evaluate or make recommendations for standards of care or clinical operations, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, ethics, legislation, or policies.
AI: Partial - AI can synthesize literature, draft recommendations, and flag regulatory/ethical considerations but cannot be relied on to make final standards-of-care or compliance decisions without expert human review and legal verification.
Engage in research activities related to the field of medical genetics or genetic counseling.
AI: Partial - AI can support many research activities (literature review, data analysis, hypothesis generation, manuscript drafting) but cannot autonomously design/execute human subject research, recruit participants, or obtain approvals.
Collect for, or share with, research projects patient data on specific genetic disorders or syndromes.
AI: Partial - AI can assist in extracting, de‑identifying, and organizing patient data for research when properly integrated and authorized, but it cannot independently obtain consent or physically collect patient information without human and legal controls.
Identify funding sources and write grant proposals for eligible programs or services.
AI: Partial - AI can search for funding opportunities and draft competitive grant proposals and budgets, but human judgment, tailoring, relationships, and submission/administrative steps remain essential.