Emma Celis Rivas

Tell us about yourself!
I studied a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Genetics and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia. I finished my undergraduate degree with a love for genetics, but I was unsure what I wanted to do with my future. I didn’t have a deep love for the lab, preferring people and conversation. I pursued work in the pharmacology field and worked in biotechnology research then pharmaceuticals but found myself yearning for personal connection and a desire to make a difference in people’s lives.

It wasn’t until speaking with a friend that I was introduced to genetic counselling. She has a daughter affected by a genetic condition. Hearing her journey as a mother and what the genetic counsellor did for her and her family really resonated with me. The first thing I Googled was Genetic Counselling courses in Australia. That was in January of 2009, and at that point, my only options were to move interstate. Based on my situation at the time with my partner, and work and living situation, it was just never an option to pack up and move interstate to pursue it.

It remained in the back of my mind. In the meantime, I became a mother and had two children. I pursued volunteer opportunities that resonated with me, and I ended up becoming a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor through the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I went through counselling training and volunteer work, which I knew would serve me well for an application in the future, if a course became available!

Why did you choose UTS?
I had waited 10 years for this dream career, but I refused to give up! In 2019, something made me Google genetic counselling courses again and I found out the UTS had developed a course that was delivered with a hybrid of online and on-campus blocks. I joined the online information session, learnt more about the course and realised that this could actually be possible for me – living in Perth – to complete this course.

How has your experience been? Do you have any highlights?
My first placement was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. In response, the course coordinators created a fantastic virtual clinical placement, designed to give us a taste of placement via Zoom. They had other students, members of the academic team, and members of the genetic counselling community acting in the role of clients. It allowed us to participate in multidisciplinary team meetings, respond to phone messages left by clinicians, talk to a wide range of clients about what was going on for them and reflect on these experiences in small groups.

Placements have been like putting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together and seeing the bigger picture. I’m recognising how many skills we’ve learnt in our course so far and seeing how it all actually works in practice. For example, I now understand why we had a workshop on interpreting a pathology report, because now I’m seeing pathology reports every day!

It’s rewarding and also a privilege talking with people about their journey and hearing their stories.

We have students across most states of Australia and New Zealand. Since the course is mostly virtual, sometimes the time difference can be challenging with group assignments with students spread across multiple time zones. However, I love that I can study from home and balance my hours around my family commitments. Although we are spread out, supportive and close connections have been built within the small cohort and we all help each other out and communicate frequently.

In terms of clinical skills, we have so many people involved in the course, and each one of them brings something special and unique. We have doctors that talk to us, we have guest speakers, and we hear from patients or people living with genetic conditions. There’s been a lot of thought put into who presents content to us, and I’m constantly blown away by the level of expertise, the stories that they have to share, and the fact that the Genetic Counselling team have managed to find these people to talk to us.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?
Ideally, I would like to work as a genetic counsellor within the genetic services here in Western Australia. The course has also been really good at identifying new and emerging roles for us with our skills, and I’m aware that there may be opportunities in research with clinical trials or with laboratories as well.

Do you have any advice for future students?
Getting experience talking with people is so important; whether it’s in a volunteer role or a workplace, feeling comfortable talking to people about potentially challenging things. If you’re an older student or a parent, go for it, because the life experience you can bring to the course is a really wonderful thing.

Learn more about Genetic Counselling at the Graduate School of Health.