Meeting With Your Care Team

The hallmark of Mayo Clinic's individualized medicine practice is its multispecialty personalized care team. The team analyzes each individual case, working together to evaluate genomic results and provide personalized treatment or follow-up recommendations.

Team members include:

Primary physician

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your individualized medicine care team invites and encourages your primary care physician to participate in all discussions about your care.

PHYSICIAN SPECIALIST

Physician specialists include specialists in medical genetics, general internal medicine, pediatrics, gastroenterology, cardiovascular diseases, pathology, hematology, oncology and other areas.

GENOMIC NURSE

Genomic nurses have special training in genetics and genomics. Genomic nurses provide education, help obtain medical and family history information, and collaborate with genetic counselors, physicians, and the rest of the health care team in support of your care.

I never planned to be a nurse. I wanted to train horses. I came from an agricultural family, and genetics played a big role in farming. But when I was five, my mom got a job as a lab tech in muscle research here at Mayo. I was exposed to frozen slides, electron microscopes, and the idea of research. I first went to school for animal science, but horses don't make a lot of money. My brother suggested I try nursing, as he and his wife were both nurses. So I did. I ended up in high-risk obstetrics, which involves genetics. One thing led to another, and here I am, a genetic nurse. Genetics and nursing go together like milk an cookies. I love to see people become empowered with knowledge about their condition. I love the discovery part of genetics and trying something new and out of my comfort zone. Genetics is like The Matrix. Once you learn about it, you see code everywhere.

GENETIC COUNSELOR

Genetic counselors have expertise in both medical genetics and counseling. As members of a health care team, they work with individuals and families at risk for, or diagnosed with, a variety of genetic conditions. Genetic counselors also collect and interpret family history information, order and interpret genetic tests, educate about genetic disorders, provide supportive counseling, and serve as an advocate for you.

LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS

These scientists include molecular pathologists and biologists, geneticists, biochemists, and others. They help the team understand how your DNA changes can affect your condition.

BIOINFORMATICIANS

This specialized team combines computer science with biology and genetics to analyze information from your DNA into a report for your primary care physician and physician specialist.

PHARMACOGENOMICS PHARMACIST

Pharmacogenomics pharmacists have special training to provide recommendations based on how a specific drug interacts with your genes. They review genetic test results to make recommendations that help you get the best results from your medications with the fewest possible side effects. In some cases, recommendations from pharmacogenomics pharmacists can prevent serious reactions to medications.

Because pharmacogenomics is a new specialty in patient care, these pharmacists may serve as experts for both patients and clinicians to review and understand pharmacogenomics test results, provide guidance about current or future medication options, and in some cases, give insights on medication intolerances or bad reactions in the past.

Bioethicist

A medical ethics representative works with the team on your behalf to examine, discuss and ensure that all ethical, legal and social implications surrounding genomic applications in your health care are considered.

Center for Individualized Medicine