Consumers armed with genetic testing information from the likes of 23andMe and a whole host of gene testing companies are showing up at the emergency room or their primary care physicians offices looking for answers.

The problem is that those physicians dont know enough about the emerging field of personalized medicine, said Dr. Jennifer Lowry, a pediatrician at Childrens Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri. Lowry, who works at the hospitals Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovation, was speaking at MedCity CONVERGE Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Personalized medicine may be routine at Mayo Clinic but when parents show up with their childs genetic test results in the doctors office, many physicians are asking what this all means, Lowry said. They are like Whaaaat?

Later in an interview, Lowry said that personalized medicine was not even taught when she was in medical school and she had to learn it by herself.

She and others on the panel which included James Burn, president and CEO of genetic testing firm AssureRx, and Mike Scott, patient advocate, chairman of National Organization for Rare Disorders agreed that physician education was essential.

Burns said that AssureRx is exploring ways to educate patients simultaneously with those in the medical profession.

However, Lowry later said that she does not believe that companies developing the tests should be the entities managing this communication.Lowry said that the education will have to come from physicians who are unconnected to organizations that do the testing. She added that the Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovation holds conferences to educate the primary care physician or the ER physician, but many times people who show up are mainly researchers.

There is a good reason for why Lowry doesnt want the education to come from the companies doing the testing. She doesnt think these tests are that accurate.

Mayo is the best that we have, but I sometimes override even their interpretation of the test results, Lowry declared.

Read more:
Physicians need more education on personalized medicine

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