Practical recommendations for supporting medical students and faculty in learning about family violence

Family violence as a discipline of medical study and practice is now an integral component of medical education. Education about family violence should be spread among many courses and delivered by a variety of faculty throughout the four years of medical school. Medical faculty are just beginning to appreciate the complexities of teaching about family violence, in particular the issues involved in dealing with their own and their students' attitudes, feelings, and reactions to patients who have suffered from abuse. This article discusses the complex issues that need to be considered in preparing medical students and a broad range of medical faculty to teach and practice effectively in this area, and offers practical recommendations for approaching this complex issue. It notes the need for support services for both faculty and students, ranging from treatment for ongoing individual issues to an institutional plan or protocol for dealing with potential crises.