Citation

Short LM, Cotton D, Hodgson CS. Acad. Med. 1997; 72(1 Suppl): S75-92.

Affiliation

Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. lys7@cipcod1.em.cdc.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Association of American Medical Colleges, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9008590

Abstract

In order to provide treatment and support to victims of domestic violence, physicians and other hospital staff must develop skills in identifying abuse cases and an understanding of family violence dynamics. A comprehensive evaluation of the instructional design, implementation, and learning outcomes of the Domestic Violence Module at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine documented the value of such a curriculum. The 4-week module, offered to groups of 8 second-year medical students by faculty tutors, includes practice interviews with simulated family violence victims. Curriculum development specialists who reviewed the module lauded its problem-based learning approach and use of a range of teaching methods. At the same time, evaluators identified a need for more student opportunities to practice and receive feedback on their interviewing skills and to identify personal attitudes that could adversely affect their management of domestic violence cases and for greater consistency across groups in what is taught. Comparison of results of questionnaires completed by 124 UCLA medical students before and after exposure to the module revealed dramatic gains in the ability to diagnose domestic violence and in self-efficacy to intervene in this area, while the scores of 88 nonexposed students from another medical school showed no change from baseline to follow-up. The only component that did not change as a result of the training was students' predisposition to act on suspicions of domestic violence even when the woman was not herself prepared for such action.

Language: en