What should I expect when meeting a medical geneticist?

Meeting with a medical geneticist usually requires a referral, often from your child’s primary care doctor or a specialist on your child’s medical team. Typically a first meeting with patients is about getting to know the family and learning what questions are leading them to seek answers from genetics. The geneticist will want to review your child’s medical records and assessments from other providers and may ask you to complete a pre-visit survey to get to know the specifics of your child and family. During the visit, the doctor will do a comprehensive physical examination, order targeted labs or imaging studies that may be helpful and review their findings to walk your family through any genetic testing recommendations and options.

For more information, see Genetics 101.