In 2001, I was working my first job as a genetic counselor in the new prenatal clinic at Boston Medical Center. Because it was a new clinic, I was counseling patients in empty in-patient rooms that also sometimes doubled as waiting rooms. They still had beds in them. TVs hung from the ceiling, and we just crammed in some extra chairs and sat around the bed side table for sessions. On September 11, the staff and I watched the attacks on the World Trade Center occurring live on those TV sets. And then my first patient arrived. I was in shock. The staff was in shock. And my patient was in shock. We sat. We did our session, answered what questions she could muster and proceeded with the testing she selected. We knew planes had left from Boston. We knew our world would never be the same. And we continued our work…

Because the thing is, care needed to go on. Pregnancies don’t pause. Cancers don’t pause. Patient care doesn’t pause. While I was no longer providing direct patient care when COVID hit, I imagine it felt similar…moving forward with our work, with our care of patients, with our care for our families, even when things are not “normal” and that care looks so different than we expected it to. These moments test us. They test our empathy, our resilience, and our conviction about why our work matters.

On January 30, 2026, your Board of Directors and NSGC staff met for our first Board meeting of the year. We met in person in Chicago on a day when many individuals and organizations were recognizing the impact of anti-immigrant actions in Minnesota and elsewhere through a shutdown of usual business. We sat with that. We acknowledged that. We also discussed how our existing advocacy priorities intersect with these events and where we may have opportunities to amplify our voice. We discussed the challenge of being directly or indirectly impacted by current events while still upholding our daily responsibilities as clinicians, teachers, parents, and yes, volunteers. While we cannot control every external force that shapes our environment, we are not without agency. We remain committed to advancing policies and strategic priorities that expand patient access to genomic healthcare and support the diverse communities we serve.

Our volunteer Board leadership includes immigrants, Minnesotans, and those with many other lived experiences. We are all individuals and experience the world differently. And while we are all genetic counselors, that is not the sum total of our life experience or our identities…nor should it be. We all bring our own unique experiences, worldviews, and lives to our genetic counseling community. For some members and patients, moments like these bring real fear or uncertainty. It is important that we acknowledge that openly. Fortunately, we have many ways to engage and collaborate, building our collective sense of belonging – our various SIGs for specialty knowledge, our NSGConnect Mentor Program, our NSGCommunity forums for discussion, our Journal of Genetic Counseling for dissemination of research, and our Perspectives publication for, well, different perspectives - to name just a few. 

My experience has taught me that this is not the first, nor will it be the last time our community is impacted by current events in this country and abroad. Members may experience these moments in deeply personal ways. Our responsibility as a Board is to determine when there is a distinct professional voice that NSGC is uniquely positioned to contribute. That institutional responsibility exists alongside the very real human impact many of us may feel. Our members practice in diverse settings and communities, and some will experience these changes more acutely than others. As in many situations, our empathy as genetic counselors remains our superpower. We can make a difference by showing it within our professional and personal communities and modeling that empathy for others.

Each of us needs to be aware of and take guidance from our local and state governments regarding the best way to deal with the very real challenges current events and circumstances present to our patients, our colleagues and to us.  We all need to be knowledgeable about policies and procedures at our own places of employment. These vary by subject, geography, type of organization, whether care is in person or telehealth, type of specialty, etc. At the same time, NSGC continues its advocacy work at the federal and state levels, informed by the needs of our members and patients. Our role as a professional society is to elevate issues that affect access to care, professional recognition, and equitable delivery of genetic services.

What is consistent across all of us is our shared mission, our shared vision and our shared values as NSGC members. We can always align around these guideposts and our strategic plan. In times of uncertainty, conviction in our shared purpose becomes even more important.

So, when times are difficult, we as volunteer leaders take time to check in on each other, to acknowledge the impacts, and provide support where needed. Our members do the same thing. And then we continue the work. Continuing the work does not mean ignoring what is happening around us. It means choosing to show up with integrity, professionalism and clarity about our goals. We continue the paid work we do to provide patient care, teach the next generation of genetic counselors, lead research in genomics, develop new products, advocate for patients and so much more. And we continue the volunteer work we do to ensure NSGC continues to provide the leadership and advocacy that only a professional organization can provide - federal advocacy, support for improved recognition and reimbursement, high-quality genetic counseling continuing education and so much more, as guided by our strategic plan. 

Thank you for continuing the work.  Our patients and our profession are better for it.

Author: Carrie Haverty, MS, CGC

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