March 24, 2025

Demystifying Genetics with Laura Yeates

57 minutes

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Dr. Laura Yeates shares her journey as a cardiac genetic counsellor specialising in inherited heart diseases and supporting families affected by sudden cardiac death. We explore her recent PhD research on developing support interventions for these families and discuss the importance of wellbeing for genetic counselling professionals.

• Cardiac genetic counselling focuses on inherited cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias

• Dr. Yeates completed her PhD during COVID, developing support interventions for families affected by sudden cardiac death

• Genetic counsellors need a personalised "self-care toolkit" that evolves throughout their career

• The importance of multidisciplinary team meetings where genetic counsellors provide valuable expertise

• "Mainstreaming" works best when genetic counsellors are embedded within specialty departments

• Being called "stat" to map a complex family tree validated the unique skills genetic counsellors bring to healthcare teams

• Certification is challenging but valuable, making genetic counsellors more reflective practitioners

• The profession requires continuous learning as "the technology we'll be using in 10 years hasn't been invented yet"

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Demystifying Genetics is sponsored by TrakGene

https://www.trakgene.com/

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By Matt Burgess

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