Article

Teaching second-year medical students about wife battering

Objective: Our goal was to determine the use by obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ domestic violence slide lecture module and the opinions of the directors regarding its efficacy. Study Design: A 6-question survey was mailed to 289 directors of accredited obstetrics and gynecology programs in the United States and Canada 9 and 13 months after a learning module on domestic violence was mailed to these same persons. The questions related to receipt and use of the module in the curriculum, target audiences, future plans for integration of the module into curricula, and recommendations for future supplemental topics in the same format. Results: The return rate for the survey was 57% (164/289). The responses represented university-affiliated, community- and military-based programs with representation from all geographic areas of the country. Fourteen directors who had no recollection of receiving the package were sent a second set. The lecture had been presented by 72% of the respondents’ departments to audiences of residents (89%), medical students (55%), practicing physicians (41%), and the lay public (11%). Two thirds of the nonusers and 87% of the users intended to use the module as a formal lecture in the curriculum of both residents and medical students in the coming school year. Recommendations for future supplemental lecture packages included abuse during pregnancy, screening women with different cultural backgrounds, and how to ask tough questions. Conclusion: The majority of obstetrics and gynecology resident program directors who responded to the survey integrated or will integrate an American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists–created learning module on domestic violence into their residents’ and medical students’ formal curricula. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180:496-8.)