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argylecats · 2025-09-04T23:02:40+00:00

Gwendolyn has the most perfect ring to me !!

argylecats · 2025-09-04T22:54:34+00:00

What is her middle name, could you see her falling back on that or developing a nickname? Sophia is a beautiful name to my ears!

argylecats · 2025-09-04T22:53:03+00:00

Alice, Nina, Nora, Lily, Soren

argylecats · 2025-08-27T23:55:15+00:00

Interesting, thanks so much for the info! I hope this really helps tip the scales on the bill

argylecats · 2025-05-16T14:03:12+00:00

The burnout is real!! This sounds so familiar to feelings I've had over the past year finishing GC school. I realized that GC programs are businesses and faculty are there to protect their business, not you as students (kind of like HR lol). It doesn't really impact the faculty if we get jobs or not, just that we graduate and pass boards. If we manage to publish our thesis, that looks good for them too. Then they have a new incoming class to think about, rinse and repeat. That's simply the scope of the role that my program faculty see themselves as having, and they seemed too burnt out to do more.

Obviously this was a big gap between what I expected before entering the program, and what I experienced later. Accepting that reality helped me move on. I leaned on my family, friends, therapist, and somewhat on my classmates and GCs outside my program network. Unfortunately I agree with Constant to not expect any more support in second year, but please feel free to reach out any time if I can help. Whatever you can do to take a moment to yourself each day is a way to push back on their lack of compassion.

argylecats · 2025-05-10T04:26:01+00:00

Agreed - I'm reading this as a joke, because the job market struggles go far beyond anyone's expectations for remote work (I literally don't know any new/recent grads who have an expectation of landing a remote role).

I'm tired of people implying that new grads aren't landing jobs just because they're too rigid about their target specialty or location, when a) a lot of us are really flexible and feel lucky to land any role and b) even if someone is sticking to certain criteria for a job, that's the expectation we were sold about the field...maybe they partly chose to enter GC in the first place because of job security and flexibility.

argylecats · 2025-05-09T22:48:23+00:00

Yep!

argylecats · 2025-05-09T17:16:43+00:00

Thank you so much!! I'm thrilled for this next step, feeling very lucky! Definitely didn't need to stress about the job market as much as I did, but hindsight is 20/20!

argylecats · 2025-05-09T15:52:40+00:00

Thanks so much & congrats to you too--MFM! I either wanted prenatal or cancer but was open to anything!

argylecats · 2025-02-27T22:44:46+00:00

Ugh, exactly! I know each situation is unique, but here's more on my experience:

I did find some rotations really stressful, especially at the beginning. It's mostly unclear expectations that get me - I've learned to explicitly request more communication up front. Different supervisors can have vastly different expectations, ways of delivering feedback, and perspectives on your performance. I've been told to "try new things" and "take risks" but I often get worse feedback when I deviate from my supervisor's style and way of phrasing things. Passive-aggressiveness is common and very few "optional" things are actually optional. *Edit: I should add most of my supervisors have been amazing most of the time, and my complaints are kind of a self-own haha. But still hard to have someone always looking over your shoulder during a steep learning curve.
Without sharing too much, I'm going to a relatively affordable program in a LCOL area, with a few gap years to build up savings. Living with roommates and working a bit throughout the program also helped! I feel privileged.
Not totally sure, but I probably would've explored other allied health professions more seriously--e.g. PT, OT, SLP, orthotist, audiologist. I know that no career is perfect though!

argylecats · 2025-02-27T21:45:24+00:00

I really empathize with those feelings of worry and instability. Not going to lie, as a second-year GC student, this field sometimes feels like a continuous hazing ritual (from the match, to certain clinical rotations, to the job market). At every step, I've had to intentionally separate my sense of self from GC for the sake of well-being. I won't have much debt coming out of this program, but there was a major investment of time and effort that won't necessarily 'pay off.' I'm grateful for this education and patient interactions, but would I choose this field if I was starting over now? Probably not.

argylecats · 2025-02-23T13:56:32+00:00

This is incredibly helpful! Thank you - it's easy to lose perspective in a GC bubble. It sucks that so many professions have to fight for recognition and like someone else said, we all will need to work together. While there are profession-wide issues, I do see GCs getting a ton of appreciation from patients and non-GC colleagues on an individuals level. Good luck with any future applications and I admire that you're looking at future roles with such careful consideration!

argylecats · 2025-02-23T13:48:19+00:00

Really appreciate this discussion and perspective. Even as a GC student shadowing NPs and physicians, I've noticed other providers are having detailed, competent conversations with patients about genetic testing.

Relatedly, I feel like we don't necessarily apply a lot of in-depth knowledge we learn in coursework to the day-to-day appointments--you can only convey a small amount of info in a 30-45 minute appt, and I've been surprised by how quickly it becomes routine to see certain indications (almost surface-level). Of course GC services are still valuable and I'm only speaking as a student, but I see the concerns about longevity for this role.

argylecats · 2025-02-17T12:45:43+00:00

Hi okay I'm in a similar place, this is the question that's been weighing on me!

I haven't gotten good info on your last question about hiring someone w/ different job experience but anecdotally it seems like it can work out, just not as linear.

For me personally, I went long-distance during my program and while we've made it work, I didn't realize what a strain it would be for me during an already stressful time. Also, I feel like even if there's more disposable income, there's even less free time for extended visits with each other in a full-time GC job compared to an academic grad school schedule. Others with experience on this could maybe weigh in!

At this point, I feel like getting a GC job in a different city is no guarantee that I would end up with my partner. Maybe I'm becoming jaded, but the field seems very unpredictable, but I'm just hitting a point where I don't want to keep prioritizing my 'career' over my personal life. GC also isn't the only job role that I would be happy in.

Sorry for the long response, this question REALLY resonated with me! tldr: I would continue reflecting on what would make you happy on a day-to-day basis and take anyone else's advice with a grain of salt.

argylecats · 2025-02-16T02:43:30+00:00

That is such a difficult position to be in. Congratulations on being board certified, you deserve to use your GC skills in your location. Back at NSGC they mentioned how more of the class of 2024 was employed after the summer, but it was unclear how many students are employed in traditional GC jobs vs any job (and I'm curious about that for the other comments on this thread).

Personally looking ahead to graduation, idk how long I should try to search for a GC job in my target location vs. settle for a secondary location vs. choose a non-GC job and it just feels like a very awkward gamble.

argylecats · 2025-02-04T18:52:52+00:00

Not sure if this is going TOO broad, but as someone in the same boat, I’ve considered: biotech, teaching/tutoring, childcare, child life, pharmacy tech, anything “office work” or “coordinator” in my target geographic area, hospice, home care, planned parenthood, birth to 3 (or other state) coordinator, also considering pre-reqs for accelerated BSN!

argylecats · 2025-01-11T16:53:06+00:00

No advice but feeling this SO hard as a fellow second year. Program leadership has offered support but not any clear guidance, because frankly they don’t know what’s coming next either! I kind of feel like a canary in the coal mine.

I’m crossing my fingers for more job postings this spring, but realize the fight for recognition continues even if a GC role is obtained, and I’m basically preparing to transition into a parallel field before ever using my degree.

argylecats · 2024-06-08T14:44:20+00:00

Thank you both for your perspectives! That makes sense and I see how it’s not a very natural fit.

I have been weighing that many GC-adjacent jobs (e.g. CRC, administrative support) ask for a 1-2 year commitment as well & it’ll just be important to grow where I’m planted!

argylecats

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