Education and research in adult family violence: a perspective

There are compelling reasons to promote the education of medical students about family violence. First, such violence is a significant health problem, but one that has been hidden or ignored for too long by the medical and health communities and even by law enforcement agencies. Once physicians look for family violence among their patients, however, they will find it. Second, it is important for physicians to know about family violence because they typically are the first line of defense and will see victims of family violence who cannot, or are afraid to, call the police. A third reason for including family violence in the curriculum is that this topic is eminently teachable. Obstacles to greater emphasis on family violence in the curriculum are akin to the obstacles in physicians' practices: ignorance, denial, a feeling that the problem is a law enforcement one, and a mistaken notion about how easy it is for an abused woman to leave her abuser. Also, medical students often come from sheltered backgrounds and will have to be taught about the prevalence and importance of family violence. Curricula in family violence should be multidisiplinary, integrated into current teaching, and have an emphasis on experiential learning. Also, change must be built into the curriculum so that it can reflect the latest understanding of the problem. Faculty who have the interest and training to teach this topic are limited, so they must teach their colleagues to prevent misinformed teaching. Finally, community resource people should be involved, since they are responsible for much of the management and rehabilitation of abused persons.