WHAT WE DO
Physicians completing the UCSD Medical
Genetics Fellowship have the capability of performing the wide variety of
functions required of a medical geneticist in a number of settings including
academic, commercial, or private practice. Because of the small size of our
program, the Program Director is able to tailor training to meet the individual
needs and interests of each fellow.
In addition to extensive training in adult clinical genetics at University
of California San Diego, Naval Medical Center San Diego, and Kaiser Permanente,
fellows gain a unique perspective of pediatric clinical genetics at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego. Several multidisciplinary team clinics enrich
the expertise of fellows in craniofacial defects, Prader Willi syndrome, muscle
disease, cancer genetics, cardiology, and prenatal genetics among others. Fetal
medicine at UCSD benefits from close collaboration among genetic specialists
and perinatologists.
Fellows also spend a portion of
their time in clinical genetics laboratories at University of California San
Diego, boosting their knowledge of biochemical genetics, cytogenetics, and
molecular genetics.
Institutes for Genomic Medicine at Rady and UCSD have
incorporated state-of-the-art infrastructure and expertise to aid in the
diagnosis of children with rare genetic diseases. This early and accurate
diagnosis has allowed us to make disease treatment an emphasis in our program.
Furthermore, the Teratology and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders program adds experience on the risks and counseling of prenatal
exposures.
We encourage building the
foundations for more dedicated research during the entire duration of the
program. Fellows are afforded the opportunity to participate in a research
focused 3rd year during which some patient activities continue. Research and
Clinical faculty participate in a wide range of fundamental research and
clinical trials both at UCSD and Rady Children's Hospital.
Our program prepares graduates to
sit for the Clinical Genetics Board Examination administered by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics.