How to Share Genetic Test Results With Your Doctor: A Step-by-Step Guide
Bring your actual report, distinguish actionable from informational findings, and ask specific questions. Here’s how to make your genetic results useful at your next appointment.
Category: Community · By GenomeNarrator Team · · 5 min read
Many people run a genomic analysis, receive results showing elevated risk for several conditions, and then don't know what to do next. The most valuable next step is a conversation with a clinician, but that conversation goes better with some preparation.
Bring the actual report, not just a summary
Physicians and genetic counselors need specific variant information to do anything useful with your results. A printout that says "elevated Alzheimer's risk" without the underlying APOE genotype or specific ClinVar accession numbers limits what they can do.
Before your appointment, sort your results into two categories: findings that could change your clinical care (e.g., BRCA pathogenic variant, FH-causing variant, high PRS for a condition with screening protocols) versus findings that are informational but don't currently change management (e.g., APOE ε4, most trait associations).
Ask specific questions
"I have a pathogenic variant in LDLR: should I be on a statin?" is a more productive question than "my cholesterol genetics are bad, what should I do?" Specific variants lead to specific clinical conversations.
Consider a genetic counselor
For complex or emotionally significant findings, particularly cancer predisposition genes, a board-certified genetic counselor is the right specialist. They are trained specifically in translating genetic findings into clinical action and navigating the emotional complexity these results can carry.
Remember that genetics is context
Your doctor will integrate your genetic findings with your family history, current bloodwork, physical exam, and lifestyle. A high PRS for heart disease combined with a normal lipid panel, ideal blood pressure, and no family history is a different clinical picture than the same PRS with three first-degree relatives who had heart attacks before 60.
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