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Innovative Web-Based Program to Identify Domestic Violence Trains 1,000th Doctor

Posted on: Monday, 4 June 2007, 15:00 CDT

In less than a year of operation, more than 1,000 California doctors have received training to treat victims of domestic violence through an innovative online program, the program's creator announced today.

"The early success we have had with Respond to Domestic Violence is extraordinarily positive," said John M. (Skip) Harris, Jr., MD, founder of the site. "It shows that we have a training program on an important issue that engages busy clinicians effectively. By using our tools, doctors and other professionals can help the health care system work better for victims of domestic violence."

Available for free at www.respondtodv.org, the award-winning, web-based education program fills two vital goals. It provides health care professionals with the tools and information they need to help patients who may be victims of domestic violence and allows California doctors to meet state requirements for continuing education. "This is a great way to help our patients," said one doctor who took the course.

The program was launched last summer with a $350,000 investment from Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF). The BSCF grant makes the training freely available for two years. The grant also enabled the program's authors to add important information on California laws and domestic violence resources.

"Online training for health professionals is one of the innovative strategies we're funding to address the pervasive issue of domestic violence," said Crystal Hayling, president and CEO of BSCF. "To reach our goal of ending domestic violence in our lifetime, we must reach into every sector -- business, media, the medical community."

Physicians licensed in California who use the program can receive up to 16 AMA Category1TM Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits -- also at no charge -- for completing the course. As California physicians are required to obtain 25 CME credits annually, online training is an increasingly popular option and so far, the program has provided more than 3,500 CME credits to California physicians.

The state-of-the-art online CME domestic violence intervention training program includes text-based simulations, multi-media tutorials, video presentations by domestic violence experts, downloadable practice tools, and links to National Library of Medicine journal abstracts. It was developed under a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to Medical Directions, Inc. (MDI) of Tucson, Arizona. Last year, MDI received an award from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education for its research in developing the program.

MDI and BSCF hope to train five percent of California's 90,000 practicing physicians with the online program. The project is endorsed by a number of prominent organizations, including the California Medical Association, the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Permanente Medical Group.

Source: Business Wire

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