"What do women want their health care providers to do? In general, women want to be asked about domestic violence, to be listened to, to be believed and not judged when they speak about their experiences, and to maintain control over their decisions about their living arrangements and relationships. They want to be treated respectfully and with sensitivity by providers who are informed about domestic violence. They want information about domestic violence and referrals to community resources to be provided when needed. Women want domestic violence to be recognized as a health problem that can be recognized in the medical setting."¹

An estimated 4 million women are battered every year in the United States, leaving no doubt that domestic violence is a health issue for many women. Yet, while health care providers are often the first professionals to access the victim, many domestic violence cases go undetected because health care professionals are not trained in how to recognize the signs and symptoms of abuse.

An integral theme of the course is the notion that domestic violence primarily affects female victims regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, but that each of these social situations affects the victim’s experiences and interaction with health care professionals. Cultural differences are addressed in each unit in the course.

Course Description

This course has been developed by the American Medical Women's Association based on the manuals of the Family Violence Prevention Fund. The course director is Marjorie Braude, M.D., co-director is Peggy Goodman, M.D., with Carole Warshaw, M.D., as consultant.

This course will cover the basic knowledge of domestic violence required for a clinician to recognize, treat, and prevent violence from an intimate. The course will be divided into units, each one covering a necessary and important part of the information necessary for the clinician to have a basic understanding of domestic violence.

CME Statements

The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. The American Medical Women's Association takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity.

The American Medical Women's Association designates this CME activity for up to 2.0 hours in Category 1 of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. Each physician should claim only those hours for credit that she/he actually spent in the education activity.

CME designation of this course is effective through 12/20/07.

CME Disclosure

The ACCME Standards require that all CME activities disclose the existence of any relationship that the faculty has with the sponsor or manufacturer of any commercial product(s) in educational activity. In compliance, and to assure the highest quality of CME programming, the following disclosures are provided:

Drs. Marjorie Braude, MD; Peggy Goodman, MD; and Carole Warshaw, MD have no significant financial relationships to disclose.

Curriculum Instructions

Throughout this course, you will have the opportunity to hear directly from survivors of domestic violence about their experiences, their feelings, and their interactions with health professionals such as yourself. To do this, you may select either the audio only option (best for computers with slower Internet access) or the video option. Before you begin with Unit One, please make sure you have installed the required players on your computer:

1) To access audio files you must have the appropriate plug-in. Download and install the Real Player by clicking HERE.

2) To access video files, you will need Version 3 or later of QuickTime. Click HERE to download and install this plug-in.