How To Become A Prenatal Genetic Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a prenatal genetic counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a prenatal genetic counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.82 an hour? That's $53,697 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 18% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePrenatal Genetic CounselorUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,697

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 18%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.47%

Asian 7.60%

Black or African American 6.46%

Hispanic or Latino 11.20%

Unknown 3.84%

White 69.42%

Gender

female 96.55%

male 3.45%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a prenatal genetic counselor

Explore prenatal genetic counselor education requirements

Most common prenatal genetic counselor degrees

Bachelor's

56.5 %

Master's

39.1 %

Associate

4.3 %

Start to develop specific prenatal genetic counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Clinical Genetics	38.16%
IRB	33.76%
Community Agencies	28.08%

Complete relevant prenatal genetic counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New prenatal genetic counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a prenatal genetic counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real prenatal genetic counselor resumes.

Research prenatal genetic counselor duties and responsibilities

Ensure and manage the compliance with Didi Hirsch policies and procedures, contracts and other regulatory agencies, HIPAA and DMH.
Develop goals for vocational rehabilitation, providing each client multiple realistic objectives; follow through to assess progress.
Study the molecular link between carcinoma, melanoma, and inflammation using different nonclinical model systems.

Prepare your prenatal genetic counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your prenatal genetic counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a prenatal genetic counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable prenatal genetic counselor resume templates

Build a professional prenatal genetic counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your prenatal genetic counselor resume.