Sixteen medical students participated in a didactic learning intervention about recognizing and addressing intimate partner violence (IPV), followed by a standardized patient session. Students filled out a seven-question survey before and after the session that assessed comfort addressing IPV, discussing resources, and practicing trauma-informed care.

 

The study concluded that student preparedness and comfort addressing IPV increased.

 

The article highlighted how a majority of medical students and surgical trainees studied believed their education on IPV was inadequate. Medical students struggled even more than surgical residents with barriers to addressing IPV, including lack of time, lack of knowledge of resources, and personal discomfort in addressing IPV. While nearly all medical students had little or no prior IPV training, 80% indicated a desire for increased IPV education. The purpose of this study was to assess whether there were gaps in current medical school curricula with regards to learning how to care for survivors of IPV, and to identify an intervention that will teach students the skills needed to care for patients impacted by IPV.
 
The authors hypothesized that participation in a 2-hour learning experience that combined didactic and hands-on instruction could effectively teach students how to recognize, screen for, and respond to patients who are survivors of IPV. This article is a proof-of-concept paper that demonstrates the ease with which IPV education can be integrated in existing medical school curricula.

 

Read the full article in [The American Journal of Surgery] [hyperlink].

 

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