About the AGNC

The Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors is an organisation representing genetic counsellors, genetic nurses and non-medical, patient-facing staff working within the discipline of Clinical Genetics, NHS Genomic Medicine Centres and wider healthcare settings in the UK and Ireland.

The AGNC is one of five constituent groups of the BSGM.

There are now 330 AGNC members within the UK (March 2018).         

For more information about AGNC and how to become a member please click here.

The AGNC is now also on Twitter @theAGNC.

Aims

The aims of the association include:

  • to provide support for professionals working in the field 
  • to provide forums for education and scientific meetings
  • to represent the views of the profession
  • to prescribe good standards of clinical practice
  • to liaise and collaborate with other clinical and scientific colleagues in the field
  • to provide channels of communication within the profession

Membership

The membership is open to professionals whose work involves contact with families or individuals affected by or at risk of a genetic condition. Whilst in many cases, members are working within a Regional Genetics Service, increasingly those working in allied areas such as oncology and fetal medicine have found membership of the Association beneficial.

Prospective members will usually have a qualification in nursing or genetic counselling and must be nominated by two members of the AGNC/BSGM.

Members can stay up to date with AGNC issues by following us on Twitter and belonging to the AGNC members Yahoo email account.

In order to join the AGNC you must join the British Society of Genetic Medicine, the umbrella society for the UK Professional Organisations for Human Genetics.  You must be nominated by two members of the AGNC.

Membership is at one of the following levels:

  • Ordinary (including STP trainees)
  • Student
  • Agenda for Change (AfC) band 5 and below
  • AfC band 8d and above
  • Honorary/retired

Membership of the Cancer Genetics Group may also be added.

For information about membership please click here.

There are several awards which members of the AGNC may apply for. These will be awarded through application to the committee.

Minutes

Minutes from AGNC Committee Meetings are also available for members through the Commitee Documents page.

 

AGNC Representatives on BSGM Council

BSGM Council includes representatives from each of the constituent groups. BSGM Council discusses issues relevant to BSGM membership as a whole, e.g. response to requests for information from other organisations such as HGC, do once and share project and plans for future BSGM conferences, and the constituent groups report back to Council.

 

BSGM Book Club 

AGNC members are eligible to use the BSHG Book club with Oxford University Press and Scion Publishing. 

Oxford University press: 20% discount for all members

Scion Publishing: 20% discount for all members

The AGNC mailing list (Yahoo Group)

Firstly, you will need to join the AGNC Yahoo group:

To access Yahoo Groups, you need a Yahoo account.  Either log in with an existing Yahoo account, or create an account by going to www.Yahoo.com and clicking 'Mail'. Follow the prompts to create a new account.  You will need to provide a username and password, which you will use to log in to Yahoo Groups.

Go to www.groups.yahoo.com and search for 'AGNC' in the search box.

On the group page, click the 'Join Group' link.  As the group is restricted, your request will need to be approved before you can join the group (this may take a few days, depending on administrator's availability).  To confirm that you are an AGNC member, please provide your BSHG membership number as we cannot add you to the group if you are not an AGNC member.

Once you're in the group you can access the messages, photos, files, and everything else posted on the group.  To manage how you receive these messages (for example, to have emails sent directly to a work email), click on edit membership and you can change your preferences.

You can also post messages to the group by clicking on the 'new topic' button (on the conversations page).  These will be sent to everyone on the email list.

(e.g. to have the emails sent to a different email address):

You need to log-in with your Yahoo account.  If you've forgotten your password, there is a recover password option.  If you cannot remember your log-in email, you may need to create a new one and start again.   

Go to the AGNC groups page and click on 'Membership' then 'Edit membership'.  You can change your details here.

Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to add a different email address at this point.  If you want the emails sent to a different email address (e.g. your work email), you will need to do the following:

On the Yahoo groups page, click on the settings icon in the top right (looks like a wheel).  Click on 'Account info' and then 'Account security' (you may need to log in again).

Click on 'Email addresses' then on 'Add recovery email address'.  Add your email address and follow the verification procedure

Once the email address has been verified, go back to the AGNC groups page and click on 'Membership' then 'Edit membership'.  Click on the pencil icon beside Identity, and select your email address.

If you're having difficulties, please contact Nicki Taverner (tavernern@cardiff.ac.uk).