Citation

Hendricks-Matthews MK. Acad. Med. 1997; 72(1): 46-47.

Affiliation

Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia School of Medicine, Richmond, USA.

Copyright

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

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9008567

Abstract

As medical schools in the US incorporate domestic violence into their curriculum, they must also create mechanisms to assist medical students who have personal histories of domestic violence. In addition, all students must receive the support they will need to confront the psychological difficulties of working with survivors of domestic violence. It is only within the past decade that the extent of domestic violence and its effects on health have been recognized. The few surveys that have examined the prevalence of a history of domestic violence among health care providers have revealed that figures for this population mirror those for the general population. One reason for this is that more women are becoming medical students, and significantly more women than men have violence in their histories. Because it is a caring profession, medicine also attracts those who were exposed to family violence. Some of these individuals become high achievers to alleviate their pain but find it impossible to maintain perfectionism in medical school. When survivors are ultimately unable to feel good about themselves, they are unable to deal with patients objectively. As patients begin to discuss experiences of violence with medical students, the students may react by withdrawal, denial, or "intrusive" actions such as rescue attempts or boundary violations. These situations may be particularly problematic for medical students who have survived violence. Medical schools, therefore, should offer self-care training as they address the presence of family violence experiences among their students.

Language: en