Host Matt Burgess talks with Dr. Rachel Mills, a genetic counsellor and educator, about her PhD work on professional identity, how conferences and mentorship shape early-career genetic counsellors, and the changing roles of teaching, research and advocacy in the field.

The conversation covers training choices, the role of research and mindfulness in education, challenges in recruitment for studies, and practical advice for building community and confidence as genetic counsellors.

Host Matt Burgess speaks with Navy veteran Dan "Dry Dock" Shockley, who was diagnosed at 51 with attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis after routine screening revealed hundreds of polyps. Dan shares his experience with genetic testing, major surgeries including a permanent ileostomy and pancreatic-sparing resection, and how he connected with Dr. Henry T. Lynch.

Now an advocate and educator, Dan discusses surveillance, genetic counselling, living positively with rare gene mutations, and his work teaching medical students and health professionals worldwide about early detection and prevention.

Host Matt Burgess speaks with genetic counsellor and NSGC president Sara Pirzadeh‑Miller about her early research on values in genetic counselling, how life experience shapes practice, and the evolving role of genetic counsellors.

They also discuss the clinical challenges of the CDH1 gene, risk interpretation, screening versus prophylactic surgery, the rise of genetic counselling assistants, and future genomic innovations such as gene therapies and improved risk stratification.