Overview
The University of Washington Genetic Counseling Graduate Program (UW GCGP) is committed to identifying, dismantling, and replacing racist behaviors, systems, and policies within ourselves and our program. We recognize that racism is institutionalized in the United States, including in health care and higher education. We are committed to making the UW GCGP a place where all students, faculty, staff, and fieldwork supervisors are welcomed, feel comfortable, and can advance and thrive.
These statements of commitment are meaningless unless they’re backed by action. We're striving for transparency and accountability in this work, so below are some specific things we have done, are doing, and will do.
- We formed the DEIJ Committee to keep us focused on anti-racism actions.
- We removed the GRE as a requirement for admission because of its racial and gender biases.
- We developed a holistic admissions review process to reduce biases that plague more traditional metrics-based admissions.
- We are focused on actively recruiting a diverse group of students, including students who have been historically underrepresented in genetic counseling, working in partnership with the UW Office of Healthcare Equity.
- Our curriculum and supplemental activities include materials, lectures, discussions, and outreach efforts that promote and foster diversity, anti-racism, anti-harassment, and equity.
- We strive to include diverse perspectives from our faculty, guest lecturers, and staff, including promoting job postings through the Alliance for Genomic Justice.
- Our program leadership team participated in an intensive, two-day Undoing Institutional Racism workshop conducted by The People’s Institute Northwest.
We are committed to educating ourselves and to doing this important and necessary work, both personally and professionally. We realize that to make true progress, we must actively listen to those who have been furthest from educational and healthcare justice and then act.
We invite all people interested in our program to engage with us, including those who have not been historically represented in the field of genetic counseling. If you have comments or questions, please contact Robin Bennett, our Program Co-Director.