Jennifer Dykeman grew up in York, PA and graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 2019 with a B.S. in Biobehavioral Health and a minor in Psychology. During her undergraduate career, she loved studying an integrative view of healthcare and had the opportunity to be a general chemistry learning assistant to help other undergraduate students understand the basics of chemistry.
Outside of academics, Jenn was an active member and a board member of a community service organization at her college. She volunteered with Special Olympics, Relay for Life, Taproot Kitchen, and was a fundraiser and dancer for THON (a student-run philanthropy that aims to support families through pediatric cancer both emotionally and financially). She also became a certified Crisis Text Line volunteer in 2016.
The summer before her senior year, Jenn got to experience her first internship with the cancer genetics clinic at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA and was able to shadow over 50 genetic counseling appointments which helped to solidify her interest in this career. After graduation, Jenn worked as a genetic counseling assistant (GCA) for two years in Maternal Fetal Medicine and research at Geisinger in Danville, PA. Through her experience at Geisinger, she was able to disclose negative genetic test/screen results, track genetic test orders, schedule patients for genetic counseling appointments, collaborate with genetic counselors as well as other healthcare professionals, and present a poster at the National Society of Genetic Counselors 2020 conference discussing test decisions and pregnancy outcomes for patients who received an uninformative result on cell-free fetal DNA screening (cffDNA).
In her free time, Jenn loves to be outdoors, learn some new dance moves, bake healthy desserts, and explore her new home in Atlanta. She also loves to answer any questions from prospective students, so please feel free to ask away by email!