Intimate partner violence education for medical students: toward a comprehensive curriculum revision.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies examined the prevalence and efficacy of intimate partner violence (IPV) education in medical school. We documented IPV content exposure shortage in medical school curriculum at a southern university health science center and measured personal IPV experience among medical students. METHODS: Responses were gathered from a 67-item survey adapted from the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey. Our survey measured IPV knowledge and attitudes, along with sufficiency of IPV education that students received before and during medical school. Three summary scales were created to examine students' perceived preparedness to deal with IPV survivors and their perceived and actual knowledge about IPV. RESULTS: Across summary scales, differences were higher but not significant between medical students who received IPV education either before or during medical school and those with no IPV education. Of all of the medical students surveyed, 28.7% (n = 33) had experienced some type of domestic violence including IPV. Gaps in knowledge also were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Student IPV experience (whether directly by way of personal exposure to IPV or indirectly through family members or acquaintances who were victims of IPV) can be applicable in classrooms, clinics, and students' careers, but it may not necessarily increase perceived or actual IPV knowledge; however, our results show that any IPV education that students receive can be effective in increasing confidence and perceived preparedness to address IPV with patients. Comprehensive approaches to teaching IPV should be integrated fully into medical school curricula.

Dental students and intimate partner violence: measuring knowledge and experience to institute curricular change.

Our study documents the shortage of intimate partner violence (IPV) content exposure within one dental school curriculum, with an eye toward utilizing this information to revise an existing comprehensive family violence curriculum that will be fully integrated into required university coursework to improve competence and help overcome knowledge gaps. IPV is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as physical and sexual violence, threats of physical and sexual violence, or psychological/emotional abuse including coercive tactics that adults or adolescents use against current or former intimate partners. We report on the results of a four-part (background, IPV knowledge, opinions, and personal experience), sixty-seven-item validated survey instrument used to measure knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported behaviors among dental students preparing to become health care professionals working in the field. Survey responses from the nearly 80 percent of fourth-year dental students who completed the survey were examined within the context of students' actual IPV knowledge, as well as opinions and attitudes that could directly or indirectly influence patients. Our findings indicate that a sizeable number of students received no IPV training prior to or during dental school, leading to perceptions that they lack knowledge about IPV and are not well prepared to address IPV with patients. A notable percentage of students (20 percent) also reported personal experience with IPV.