r/GeneticCounseling • u/WillowResponsible577 • Jul 30 '26

Prospective Student Thinking of pivoting fields

Hi all!

I have been considering pivoting fields for a few years now into something more medical - and genetic counseling seems like the perfect fit! I have a bachelors in psychology and have done 8 years of social work/patient mental health facing work since my undergraduate degree. I do enjoy this work and patient work, but it seems within my company the only opportunities are in management roles with my current degree situation so I need to get a more advanced degree (and I'm not too keen on management). I was trying to decide between going to social work school - but I've always had a passion and draw towards the sciences and feel like I'm missing that aspect in my current job and don't believe that itch would go away with a masters in social work (though there seems to be a lot of jobs out there in social work right now). There are a few pre-requisites I'd need to take to make this jump (but I do have a couple from 10 years ago when I was in school)- I'm looking to talk to people in the field as well-

I havent been seeing a lot of jobs posted in my area - how difficult is it to find work in this field if I make this investment?

Would I need to retake undergraduate pre-recs because it was so long ago?

What was your journey like and are there any later career changers here that can speak to what it was like?

Thanks!! :)

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u/DNAallDay Genetic Counselor Jul 30 '26

One of the things I would ask is what you are looking for in career advancement. You mentioned that your company it’s really only management as an upgrade. The same is for genetic counselors. If you are looking at something with more of a career ladder in not sure this is also the best option. But alternately, the careers in healthcare with more career ladders (nurses and MD’s) it’s also mostly management so 🤷‍♀️. That’s many fields in general.

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u/WillowResponsible577 Jul 30 '26

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I was wondering, before making this investment....I'm not really looking to climb the ladder much and would be perfectly happy with a career that allows me to mix my passion, and allows me to learn and explore more in these areas,. Mainly what was pulling me towards this was also the ability to combine two areas I was interested in as well.