Welcome from the Program Director

Welcome to the Columbia University Program in Genetic Counseling.

Headshot of Amanda Bergner

Amanda Bergner, MS, CGC, ​ Program Director

We are part of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, which is situated on a 20-acre campus in Northern Manhattan. Our mission is to prepare emerging leaders in genetic counseling with a strong foundation in the genetic and genomic sciences, precision medicine, humanistic counseling, and ethical inquiry. We celebrate the rich complexity of the human experience and advocate for the use of genetics and genomics to promote social justice in health care. The educational experiences we offer are enhanced by expansive curricula, exposure to world-renowned faculty and clinical investigators, and our focus on compassion and listening.

The Program in Genetic Counseling was founded in 2017 and centered in a social justice framework. Our commitment to social justice means that we work continuously to understand historic patterns of injustice and hold ourselves accountable for our actions in perpetuating, disrupting, and dismantling those patterns in both education and health care systems. This framework is a way of seeing and acting aimed at resisting unfairness and inequity while enhancing freedom for all. We pay attention to how people, policies, practices, curricula, and institutions can be used to liberate rather than oppress those who are most marginalized.

Our programs of study are built on the premise that attainment of competence and scholarship requires that, once having been provided with the resources, students can learn independently and collaboratively. We believe that this emphasis upon both independent and collaborative learning is the most effective mechanism for preparing students to practice in an evolving health care system.

Students from the Columbia University Program in Genetic Counseling develop a strong foundation not only in the genetic and genomic sciences and their application to health in the era of precision medicine but also in the social implications of these rapidly advancing fields.

Come join us.

Amanda Bergner, MS, LCGC

Program Director