<p>The only clinical geneticists I’ve ever met have all been pediatricians, and genetics is far more relevant to pediatrics than any other specialty, though OB could be beneficial in certain situations. </p>
<p>As for why they may not make a huge amount of money, the reason is that there’s not a lot of procedural work and most of it is counseling. There are some therapeutic regiments with various supplements and such, but beyond the diagnostics (expensive), there’s not much to bill. Throw in the fact that many syndromes lack an identified genetic mutation, as well as a number of identified genetic duplications or deletions are of unknown significance and the compensation picture is further diminished…</p>
<p>Private practice is rarely an option, because it falls into the trap that afflicts many other pediatric specialties - if you’re not attached to a major referral center, you don’t have the large enough patient base to make it feasible financially unless you’re in the largest metro areas…all of which have multiple children’s hospitals you’d be competing against…</p>