Autumn Updates from the SCGC Board of Directors

Voting opens November 1st for the 2023-2024 SCGC Board of Directors! We have an exciting slate of nominees to present to the SCGC membership in the next few weeks. When you receive the email with the slate and nominees’ information, please review and VOTE!! The new officers’ terms will be from January 2023-December 2024. A big thank you to the 2022 SCGC nominating committee: Joan Oliver, Hilary Kershberg, and Ariela Emery. From Michelle Fox, SCGC Past-President, SCGC Nominating Committee Chair 2022

November 10 is Genetic Counselor Awareness Day, and we’re celebrating all month! Check out all the activities you can participate in below:

>>To highlight our membership throughout the month of November, SCGC is holding an Instagram video contest! Be sure to follow us on Instagram @socalgcs for details on your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! Show us your "Day in the life of a GC". Share a story about a day in your life and help highlight our unique, dynamic, and rewarding profession by bringing your world into ours -- be it your day to day in clinic, teaching in academia, variant analysis in the lab, or something else that illuminates an aspect of your life. Look out for some Day in the Life videos from SCGC Board and full contest rules on Instagram starting November 7th!

>>To help us kick off the festivities, join SCGC and other SoCal GCs for a virtual happy hour celebration and networking Zoom on Genetic Counselor Awareness Day Thursday, November 10th at 5:30PM PST. Register here: SCGC Virtual Happy Hour

>>Are you a SoCal GC presenting at NSGC or another upcoming conference? Tell us about your cool poster, spread the word about your workshop, or give us a preview of your platform presentation. Shoot us an email or tag us on social media @socalgcs to be featured!

>>November 24th isn't just a day for feasts and family time, it's also National Family Health History Day. Remember to tell your friends, colleagues, and patients how important it is to not only know about but act on their families’ health history. Check out some of these resources.

SCGC is planning a new webinar series for 2023. Keep an eye out in the coming months for more details about the webinars and the 2023 AEC!

SCGC Statement on Reproductive Rights and Resource List

The genetic counselor to client relationship is based on values of care and respect for the client’s autonomy, individuality, welfare, and freedom. As a result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade, not only has the genetic counselor to client relationship become jeopardized, this decision swiftly limited access to safe reproductive healthcare in many parts of the country.

We oppose any legislation that prohibits a client’s equal access to reproductive care, restricts the genetic counselor-client relationship, and marginalizes an individual, as these actions go against our tenets and infringe on the NSGC Code of Ethics. We s

tand in solidarity with the National Society of Genetic Counselors and other medical professional organizations and echo that all individuals have a right to make independent reproductive health decisions.

This year, important issues are on the ballot. Reminder that the California deadline to register to vote is Monday October 24, 2022. Register here: https://registertovote.ca.gov/

We hope that you find the following resources helpful:

Advocacy groups:

https://www.genuinecollective.org/what-is-the-collective

https://www.reproductivefreedomca.org

https://reproductiverights.org/

What to know about abortion access in California:

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/06/24/abortion-is-still-legal-in-california-here-are-answers-to-questions-about-access-in-the-state/

NSGC member resources:

https://www.nsgc.org/Policy-Research-and-Publications/Reproductive-Access-Freedom-and-Justice-Resources

Podcasts Episodes:

DNA Today Episode 191 “Overturning Roe v. Wade with Laura Hercher

Organizations you may want to donate to:

https://accessrj.org/

https://www.womenshealthspecialists.org/about/women-in-need-fund/

Summer Updates from the SCGC Board of Directors

The SCGC Nominating Committee is busy collecting and reviewing applications for nominations for the SCGC Board of Directors 2023 slate. Board positions that are open for nominations are:

• President-elect

• Treasurer

• Community Outreach Chair

• Secretary

• Marketing Chair

• Membership Chair

Click here for a description of roles and responsibilities. Continuing positions that are not open for nominations are: President (Stacey Wong), Past President (Michelle Fox), Education Chair (Rebecca LeShay), and DEI chair (Nydia Santiago Neal).

Please apply today by sending your CV and short statement about why you want to work on the SCGC Board. Send your election materials to michellefoxgc@gmail.com by July 29.

The SCGC Nominating Committee members are Michelle Fox (Chair), Ariela Emery, Hilary Kershberg, and Joan Oliver.

Community Outreach Update:

Earlier this year, we announced our collaboration with the Genetic Counseling Student Prospective Student Network (GCPSN) to give presentations at community colleges regarding the genetic counseling field. Here’s a report from our initial pilot project:

• We provided 6 talks to community college groups across SoCal from April-June 2022

  • 6 unique volunteer speakers from SCGC membership (with more who volunteered to host a session!)

  • Groups included science clubs, pre-health club, psychology club, and career services

100% of survey respondents were interested/very interested in the presentation and 100% of survey respondents found the presentation moderately to very relevant to their future career goals:

We will soon start planning a second round of outreach for the Fall 2022 academic year and are excited to continue our partnership with the GCPSN in this effort. We welcome others who may be interested in participating in this project to reach out to Nydia Santiago Neal (DEI Chair) and Lauren Gima (Community Outreach Chair) for more information.

Have you been enjoying the benefits of the SCGC Forum?

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The Education Committee is actively planning an event for the fall and even more events for 2023! Keep an eye out for announcements.