Unit Six Reports

The following document has been prepared by the Unit 6 Project team in consultation with the Expert Group. However, we would welcome any comments or suggestions (which could be incorporated into the document) from colleagues in any European country. If you have any contribution to make, please email:

Celine Lewis [] (For documents related to Work Package 6.1)

Domenico Coviello [] (For documents related to Work Package 6.2)

The following document has been prepared by the Unit 6 Project team in consultation with the Expert Group. However, we would welcome any comments or suggestions (which could be incorporated into the document) from colleagues in any European country. If you have any contribution to make, please email:

Celine Lewis [] (For documents related to Work Package 6.1)

Domenico Coviello [] (For documents related to Work Package 6.2)

Request for comments on the Core Competence document above.

EuroGentest Work Package 6.2

Dear colleagues

As you will be aware, genomics is increasingly important to healthcare provision in Europe and an estimated 30 million people now suffer from genetic diseases within the enlarged European community (Cassiman, 2005). More professionals will be involved in testing, either directly or in dealing with the impact of testing on healthcare provision (Guttmacher et al, 2007). It is therefore essential that health professionals are appropriately prepared to deliver such patient care.

As part of the EuroGentest project to harmonise genetic testing in Europe, Unit 6 is charged with addressing the professional and patient education issues connected with genetic testing. During Year 1 of the project, an extensive literature review on genetics education of health professionals was undertaken. This is described in the Year One Report of Work Package 6.2 above. At the meeting of the project team and experts in Leuven, December 2005, a decision was made to focus work during Year 2 on the development of a set of core competences in genetics for health professionals in Europe. The discussion that led to this decision centred on the need for a common minimum standard of education and training for all health professionals, to equip them to practise appropriately. It was obvious that the level of knowledge, skills and attitudes related to genetic healthcare varied according to the profession of the practitioner, the setting in which he or she worked and the relevance of genetics to his or her area of practice.

During the discussions at the Leuven meeting, it was also acknowledged that there were significant differences in the way in which professional education was delivered and practice was regulated across the countries of Europe. While a minimum standard for practice was required, setting curricula was not viewed as a practical way of ensuring those standards were met, given the differences in systems. The establishment of core competences is currently being used as a basis for health professional education in many other fields and settings (Walton & Elliott, 2006 Wold et al, 2006 Smith, 2005). It was therefore agreed that a pragmatic and workable solution would be to describe and agree, by consensus, a set of core competences that could apply to health professionals in Europe, whatever their national setting. This could provide an appropriate framework for establishing minimum standards of preparation for health care professionals in genetics across national boundaries. While core competences in genetics have been described for some health professionals in some countries, a set of competences that could be applied across Europe to the range of health professionals involved in provision of genetic healthcare does not exist.

During and since a further workshop in Porto in September, 2006, the Working Group has discussed and developed the attached document. Consultation has already occurred amongst those involved in the EuroGentest project, now it is time to consult on a far wider scale with other colleagues from across Europe.

The document is available above and we would welcome your comments as to the relevance and applicability to your own country and profession, however extensive or brief. Those who do comment will be acknowledged in the final version of the document.

You can email any comments to Domenico Coviello and Heather Skirton

Thank you for your support.

Domenico Coviello and Heather Skirton

Last changed: 2008-02-07