Extras · 1 of 4

A typical day

Four to eight appointments of 30 to 90 minutes. Before each you review the referral, draw the family tree and calculate risk. In the room you explain what a test can and cannot tell them, what a result would mean for their children and siblings, and help them decide whether to test at all. Afterward you write a detailed letter to the patient and their doctor. Between appointments you interpret lab reports, present cases at team rounds with geneticists and oncologists, and answer calls from worried relatives.