Evaluating a genomics short course for undergraduate health education students

Abstract

Background: There is a significant shortage of genomics training curricula targeting health education (HE) students. This study assessed the impact of an online theory-based genomics short course focusing on family health history (FHH) to undergraduate HE students. Materials & methods: Junior and senior HE students (n = 69) at a research-intensive university completed the course and took the pre- and post-course surveys. Results: Participants demonstrated positive improvements in their scores regarding FHH knowledge as well as attitudes, intention and confidence in adopting FHH-based genomics skills into future practice. They also showed satisfaction with the genomics course. Conclusion: Based on the initial success of the results, offering this genomics course to more HE students for further testing is recommended in the future.