From Transnational Training to Local Capacity: The Sultanate of Oman–South Africa Split‐Funnel Model for Genetic Counseling Workforce Development

ABSTRACT

As genomic technologies become increasingly integrated into healthcare worldwide, the demand for culturally and linguistically competent genetic counselors is rapidly expanding. In many regions, however, demand for these professionals far exceeds the availability of local training programs. Traditional solutions, reliance on non‐local expatriate professionals or sending trainees abroad, are often costly, logistically complex, and poorly aligned with local sociocultural contexts. In the Sultanate of Oman, where high rates of consanguinity contribute to a disproportionately elevated burden of genetic and congenital disorders, the need for a locally trained workforce is particularly urgent. This descriptive professional issue report critically reflects on a transnational training model developed through a partnership among Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Center (SQCCCRC) in the Sultanate of Oman, and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa to address these structural gaps. The model, conceptualized as a “Split‐Funnel Model,” integrates international academic training with sustained, supervised in‐country clinical practice. Trainees completed intensive academic blocks and clinical training at UCT while delivering clinical care in Oman, an arrangement intended to support the development of clinical expertise and culturally grounded practice. A central feature of this model is “system code‐switching,” defined as the adaptation of Western‐derived counseling frameworks to culturally responsive, collectivist, and family‐centered healthcare contexts. During the model's operation, Oman's genetic counseling workforce and service capacity expanded from a single non‐Omani‐led clinic to three national centers staffed by five qualified Omani genetic counselors; however, the descriptive design does not establish that the training model caused this growth. This experience suggests that a distributed transnational approach may be feasible and potentially valuable for developing a culturally competent genetic counseling workforce without established local academic infrastructure. Even though the report is based on retrospective programmatic observations of five trainees within one partnership, it does not establish the model's effectiveness, scalability, or transferability. However, the model may still offer practical guidance for countries seeking to build a locally embedded genetic counseling workforce before establishing an independent domestic training program.