"Creating Awareness within the Medical Community: Domestic Violence as a Public Health Issue."

I have been interested in working with women who are victims of domestic violence for several years. After many unsuccessful attempts (see below)at identifying a project through which to be able to work with this special population, I finally discovered a very valuable resource within the medical school. This resource is AWARE (Advocacy for Women in Abusive Relationships) which was formerly known as MSVC (Medical Students Volunteer Corps)a student organization at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health that was also mentioned in Jeremy Forster's project report.

AWARE, as the name suggests, aims to advocate for women in abusive relationships by demystifying domestic violence for the medical community. This is done at the student level by inviting speakers who are activists in this field, by hearing stories of survivors of domestic violence, by showing videos, and by introducing students to various community resources through which they can volunteer their time, or to whom they can refer future patients for support. As a student group, we hope that the next generation of physicians will be attuned to domestic violence as a public health issue and will learn to recognize it and address it as one. Through AWARE I have been able to educate myself about the issues surrounding domestic violence as well as to try and create a similar awareness through the medical student body.

My main goal for this project was really an almost selfish one. I wanted to learn more about domestic violence in a way that I would be comfortable dealing with it as a health care provider. I wanted to understand domestic abuse and to receive some basic training regarding the role of the physician in this public health issue. Furthermore, I hoped that by dispersing what I learned to my fellow colleagues, I would not only be able to be more at ease with the problem myself, but also create a greater awareness within a new generation of physicians. Domestic violence advocacy groups across the nation have been emphasizing the need for health care workers to take initiative in this area and I thought I would be able to play a role in this regard by addressing this issue from within the medical community.

Of course, by dedicating myself to a project, and by being a part of the LOCUS community, I hoped to gain skills in leadership, organization, project planning, and to acquire some general tools that I will be able to apply to similar problems in the future.

As part of the AWARE leadership:

• continued the tradition of noon lunch hour talks by presenting a video of survivors of domestic abuse.
• a 20 min session on identification and management of possible victims of domestic abuse was given by Elizabeth Bade (another AWARE leader) as part of the MEDIC training for first year students. This is training that the students receive at the beginning of the academic year before they can volunteer at any of MEDIC's free clinics.
• distributed small cards with information for people who may be in abusive relationships. These are cards that contain information regarding the victim's rights and the numbers to call for help.
• distributed small pins made by prior AWARE leaders for medical students to wear on their white coats with the words: "It's OK to talk to me about Domestic Violence"
• applied for an State Medical Society grant and was awarded $300+ to be used towards speakers and other such events for AWARE.
• distributed information on how to volunteer with Domestic Abuse and Intervention Services (DAIS) within the medical school.
• maintained close contact with Dulce Perez (AWARE advisor) as well as past AWARE leaders to assess effectiveness of programs done in the past as well as to discuss project planning for the future.
• submitted an abstract to the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International for their conference "Ending Violence Against Women: Creating a New Reality." This abstract highlighted the role of AWARE in creating awareness in the medical community, discussed past accomplishments of this group, and highlighted possible future directions. The abstract was accepted and I, along with a past and a present leader of AWARE (Holly Ashley and Rachel Quinn) presented the work that AWARE has done at this conference in Madison on Septembe 30, 2001. We were part of a session that included the team for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Curriculum Development at the UW-Medical School as well as another group from the Medical College of Wisconsin but we were distinguished as being the only students at this conference.

Once my interests had been identified, came the task of finding a way to work with that interest. The subject of domestic abuse is a delicate one, often taboo, and very difficult for most people to discuss openly. Initially, I had been given the idea to create a resource center, or distribute information within the Eagle Heights population. Eagle Heights is a housing area for graduate students and their families. Various cases of domestic disturbance have been identified by advocacy groups in this community so on the surface, it seemed like an ideal population with which to work. However, with further development of this idea I realized that to do a needs assessment and then to create a resource within this community would require a lot more than sensitivity surrounding the issues.

There were multiple language and cultural barriers to overcome due to the diverse backgrounds of these graduate students. How would one get these people to attend a meeting or come to a focus group? How effective would a brochure be if it was in English? I struggled with this idea for several months before finally accepting that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I was forced to face reality and realize that because of my own limited capacity and time constraints, I would have to choose a simpler project if I still wanted to work with the population of interest. It's a little humbling to realize that time and energy are both a precious resource and instead of trying to feel defeated I merely had to start anew and redirect my energies.

Resource Needs:

Only the support and ideas from other LOCUS mentors and fellows regarding ways to make this handout a worthwhile resource!

Last update:

January 30, 2002

Graduation Requirements Progress Chart
If you complete the requirements outlined below, you will graduate as a LOCUS fellow.

A indicates the item has been completed.

Completed	When	What	On-line
	Year 1: Beginning of Semester 2	New Project Report	Submit Report
	Year 2: Beginning of Semester 1	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 2: Beginning of Semester 2	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 3: Beginning of third year	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 4: August of fourth year	2-3 page final summary of project that includes a reflective evaluation of the project process	N/A
	Ongoing	Participate in program evaluation (written and/or focus group)	View Options
	By the end of fourth year	Select poster, presentation, paper, creative option or your own idea	View Options

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