Alumni Feature: 
From Fetus to Full-Term: Teaching as a recent grad

Laura Bulmer, Class of 2020
Even while I was still in my own training, I always knew I wanted to work in genetic counseling education. I assumed that it would be a “someday” goal and that I’d be able to get involved with course creation and hopefully program leadership much later in my career. I would graduate, gain my experience in the clinical setting, teach a lecture here and there, and get my student experience through supervision. What I didn’t expect was to be asked to develop and teach an entire course after only two years of working as a genetic counselor. In a conversation with Lauren, I mentioned that I was hoping to be involved with the developing genetic counseling program at my current institution, MUSC. About two weeks later, I received an email asking if I could teach Embryology at UNCG. Life comes at you faster than you expect!

When she asked, I felt a mixture of many emotions: excited, flattered, and very intimidated. Embryology?! That was my hardest class during my training and I immediately felt way out of my league. But I felt familiar with the subject matter as a prenatal GC, and I suddenly had an amazing opportunity to jump-start my educational career path. It was a challenge I felt ready to accept. I had the fortune of co-instructing the course with my fellow prenatal genetic counselor at MUSC, Paige Babb, who also happens to be my best friend. We were right in assuming reconstructing an embryology course would be a challenge, but it has been the most rewarding challenge of my career thus far. I’ve been reflecting on this experience as the semester wraps up, so when Randi asked me to write an article for the newsletter, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to share what I’ve gained from my first semester as an instructor. 
First, the intimidation I initially felt when taking on the task of creating a course curriculum very quickly subsided when Paige and I first met to start brainstorming at the beginning of the summer. We had the creative freedom to construct a course in our own vision. Once we sat down and started list-making, the ideas flowed out of us and within one to two hours we had the entire course schedule planned down to the topics we wanted to cover and the projects we would assign. We assessed gaps in our own learning that we wished we had gotten before becoming prenatal GCs, tried to find methods that would keep both us and the students engaged, and got to organize the class in a way that made the most sense for us personally. It was actually so much fun! Although, I will say that getting to do this with my best friend definitely contributed to the fun factor. Who knew that you could get to flex your creativity with a topic like embryology?

On the same note, crafting the course and creating lectures made me feel very invested in the subject material. As a student, embryology frankly often felt like a subject I had to know but did not have to love. It obviously proved very important as a prenatal genetic counselor, and I’ve never questioned the utility of learning the subject. But did I ever LOVE learning about the mechanisms behind gastrulation? Shockingly, not really. However, I had to know it well to be able to teach it well. To my surprise, digging into the course subject material in detail gave me a newfound appreciation for the delicate mechanisms that define embryology. As we made the lectures, I became genuinely excited to teach it to my students. This appreciation motivated me to continue to learn and understand the material at a much deeper level than I ever had.

Unsurprisingly, this process of making lectures taught me so much that I could apply to my clinical role. I now feel better prepared to counsel on ultrasound anomalies and answer the detailed questions patients ask, when previously I would often defer to the MFM due to lack of confidence in my knowledge. The most pleasantly surprising part of this whole experience has been to watch my confidence in my genetic counseling skills grow as a result of heightened understanding of embryology. I originally feared I would experience imposter syndrome as an instructor, feeling like I had no right to be teaching students when I had been a student myself only a few years prior. Thankfully, I have never felt like an imposter in this role, and it has actually helped cure the imposter syndrome I’ve often felt as a clinical genetic counselor. Teaching has proven to me that I do understand the mechanisms of fetal anomalies and I have the skills to be able to relay that knowledge not only to my students, but to my patients as well. It has ultimately made me a better genetic counselor. 
Finally, teaching embryology has been so fulfilling to me both personally and professionally. My theoretical interest in genetic counseling education is now a reality, and I am so excited to see where it will take me in my career path. Already, I have seen skills I’ve gained in this role translate to other parts of my job. For example, I am proud to report I no longer feel the same fear of public speaking that used to plague me anytime I had to give a presentation at work. Likewise, I’ve proven to myself that I can successfully balance multiple roles within my career while still maintaining a gratifying work-life balance, which shows me I can continue to pursue non-clinical interests while still being a full-time clinical GC.

To wrap up, after my first semester as an instructor, I feel a strong sense of connection to my program and a renewed sense of pride to be a UNCG graduate. Working with the students has been so enjoyable, and has affirmed my interest in student supervision and education. Further, it has been amazing getting to stay up to date with all of the program faculty who have had such an instrumental role in my personal and professional development. I’m so proud to be a part of the program that shaped me, and I’m hopeful for my future in genetic counseling education.