MEDICAL STUDENTS ENCOUNTER WITH VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE: A SIMULATION PROGRAM

Abstract

Violence against women is a serious violation of women's human rights and a significant health issue in many countries. As domestic violence is a subject of high concern in the different countries, there has been considerable research into the topic of domestic violence generally, though there is comparatively less known on health care providers roles related to  domestic violence. Health care providers are usually frontline professionals that victims of violence get in touch with , even sometimes not explicitly. Therefore health care providers’ skills and attitudes are very important when giving  a hand to victims of violence professionally. A special case is Turkey. Where the social structure in Belgium, England and Austria is of an matriarchal nature (in a sociological sense, not anthropologic), Turkey is strongly patriarchally ordered. Moreover, it has a higher level of social acceptance of domestic violence. This paper describes the program in a medical curriculum on violence against women. Simulation which is increasingly being used in health care workers training is used to deliver the program. Standardized patient (SP) methodology is the preferred modality of simulation. SP is a lay person trained to portray a patient in order to simulate a set of symptoms or problems. SPs would have first-hand knowledge, experience and feedback to improve the skills. The simulation program and the experiences of the students acquired during this program are discussed in this paper.