Child Sexual Abuse Module in the Child Abuse Pediatrics Curriculum for Physicians (CAP-CuP)

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Medical Education

Background:

• Child sexual abuse impacts over 50,000 US children annually.
• Medical training often inadequately covers child sexual abuse.
• There is a need for effective educational interventions for healthcare providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an interactive educational module on child sexual abuse.
• To enhance the knowledge and confidence of physicians in managing child sexual abuse cases.
• To provide clinicians with updated resources aligned with current guidelines.

Main Methods:

• An interactive module was integrated into a child abuse pediatrics curriculum.
• The module was presented to pediatric practitioners, family medicine residents, and medical students.
• Feedback and pre/post-module assessments measured knowledge and confidence.

Main Results:

• Favorable qualitative feedback was received from pediatric practitioners.
• Significant increases in knowledge scores were observed in resident and medical student groups.
• The module effectively enhanced participants' understanding and confidence.

Conclusions:

• The interactive module is an effective educational tool for child sexual abuse.
• It successfully improved knowledge and confidence across various physician training levels.
• This intervention supports better clinical practice in addressing child sexual abuse.