Facilitating the emotional education of medical students: using literature and film in training about intimate partner violence.
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Vol. 37, No. 8 Literature and the Arts in Medical Education Johanna Shapiro, PhD Feature Editor Editor’s Note: In this column, teachers who are currently using literary and artistic materials as part of their curricula will briefly summarize specific works, delineate their purposes and goals in using these media, describe their audience and teaching strategies, discuss their methods of evaluation, and speculate about the impact of these teaching tools on learners (and teachers). Submissions should be three to five double-spaced pages with a minimum of references. Send your submissions to me at University of California, Irvine, Department of Family Medicine, 101 City Drive South, Building 200, Room 512, Route 81, Orange, CA 92868-3298. 949-824-3748. Fax: 714-456-7984. [email protected]. Facilitating the Emotional Education of Medical Students: Using Literature and Film in Training About Intimate Partner Violence Patricia Lenahan, LCSW, MFT; Johanna Shapiro, PhD Studies indicate that intimate part- ner violence (IPV) is one of the most prevalent public health issues worldwide and a commonly seen problem in primary care. 1-3 Despite an estimated lifetime prevalence of 25% –30%, 4 IPV often goes undetected, and the effectiveness of universal screening remains somewhat controversial. 5-7 The health and mental health consequences of IPV have been well documented. Traumatic inju- ries, disfigurement, and death are readily identified as sequelae of violence. However, for the primary care physician, it is important to understand the broad range of health care effects associated with psychological and physical abuse. These include decreased self-care (especially related to chronic ill- (Fam Med 2005;37(8):543-5.) From the Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine. ness), multiple somatic complaints, and mental health issues (depres- sion and suicidality, anxiety, post- traumatic stress disorder). 8-10 Educating medical students about IPV is a crucial curricular responsibility. Teaching about IPV is part of most medical school cur- ricula and is one of the objectives for Healthy People 2010. Standard methods for IPV education gener- ally include a combination of large- group and small-group didactic ses- sions, in which students learn about definitions of IPV, incidence and prevalence, the cycle of violence, comorbidities, batterer typologies and characteristics, screening tools, detection and management, legal issues, and community resources. Traditional IPV education may also include experiential components such as role-plays or communica- tion training to improve skills in IPV detection and management. These educational efforts pro- vide much-needed information to learners about how to identify and respond to domestic violence experienced by their patients, and, according to Association of Ameri- can Medical Colleges statistics, overall learners are satisfied with the information they receive. Despite the usefulness of didac- tic and skill-based methods, they are less successful in helping learn- ers recognize and address difficult emotional and psychological issues triggered by the topic of IPV. For example, notwithstanding detailed analyses of the longlasting nega- tive consequences of emotional abuse, some students continue to minimize its seriousness and do not consider it to be “real” abuse. Even after education about the legal re- quirements of reporting suspected incidents of IPV, some students still express reluctance about this procedure, fearing to “make the situation worse.” In spite of read- ing about the cycle of violence and the Stockholm syndrome, some students do not understand “why the victim doesn’t just leave.”
Source: PubMed
Authors: Patricia Lenahan, Johanna Shapiro
Institution: University of California, Irvine
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1570185441