Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations

Healthcare workers have a unique opportunity to recognize and provide support to HT/DV victims. The objective of this study is to determine if students are more prepared to identify and work with these patient populations after being trained on the topic by the International Rescue Committee (IRC)....

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Main Authors: Rachel Geiser, Santana Solomon, Chase Irwin, Stacy Ruther, Kareem Raad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2442891
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author Rachel Geiser
Santana Solomon
Chase Irwin
Stacy Ruther
Kareem Raad
author_facet Rachel Geiser
Santana Solomon
Chase Irwin
Stacy Ruther
Kareem Raad
author_sort Rachel Geiser
collection DOAJ
description Healthcare workers have a unique opportunity to recognize and provide support to HT/DV victims. The objective of this study is to determine if students are more prepared to identify and work with these patient populations after being trained on the topic by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC came to the University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix (UACOMP) to do an optional one hour training of HT/DV in healthcare for current first and second year medical students. After IRB approval from the UACOMP Research Office for Medical Education (ROME), pre and post surveys were given to a total of 26 students who attended the training. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests adjusted for multiple comparisons were used to evaluate differences between pre- and post-training scores. Students had statistically significant improvement in self-reported comfort level scores for recommending resources, providing care, and calling the national hotline for individuals who have experienced human trafficking and domestic violence. The marked improvement in students’ comfort providing resources and care to HT/DV victims after just a 1 h training from the IRC on these topics demonstrates the impact that early exposure to HT/DV education can have in vulnerable patient populations.
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spelling doaj-art-e54303cd9d97417d8445d716887ddcf12025-08-20T02:52:20ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Education2331-186X2025-12-0112110.1080/2331186X.2024.2442891Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populationsRachel Geiser0Santana Solomon1Chase Irwin2Stacy Ruther3Kareem Raad4University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USAUniversity of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USAUniversity of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USAUniversity of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USAUniversity of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USAHealthcare workers have a unique opportunity to recognize and provide support to HT/DV victims. The objective of this study is to determine if students are more prepared to identify and work with these patient populations after being trained on the topic by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC came to the University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix (UACOMP) to do an optional one hour training of HT/DV in healthcare for current first and second year medical students. After IRB approval from the UACOMP Research Office for Medical Education (ROME), pre and post surveys were given to a total of 26 students who attended the training. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests adjusted for multiple comparisons were used to evaluate differences between pre- and post-training scores. Students had statistically significant improvement in self-reported comfort level scores for recommending resources, providing care, and calling the national hotline for individuals who have experienced human trafficking and domestic violence. The marked improvement in students’ comfort providing resources and care to HT/DV victims after just a 1 h training from the IRC on these topics demonstrates the impact that early exposure to HT/DV education can have in vulnerable patient populations.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2442891Human traffickingdomestic violencegraduate medical educationmedical education curriculummedical schoolpatient advocacy
spellingShingle Rachel Geiser
Santana Solomon
Chase Irwin
Stacy Ruther
Kareem Raad
Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
Cogent Education
Human trafficking
domestic violence
graduate medical education
medical education curriculum
medical school
patient advocacy
title Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
title_full Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
title_fullStr Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
title_full_unstemmed Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
title_short Impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students’ preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
title_sort impact of human trafficking and domestic violence training on medical students preparedness to work with vulnerable populations
topic Human trafficking
domestic violence
graduate medical education
medical education curriculum
medical school
patient advocacy
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2442891
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AT santanasolomon impactofhumantraffickinganddomesticviolencetrainingonmedicalstudentspreparednesstoworkwithvulnerablepopulations
AT chaseirwin impactofhumantraffickinganddomesticviolencetrainingonmedicalstudentspreparednesstoworkwithvulnerablepopulations
AT stacyruther impactofhumantraffickinganddomesticviolencetrainingonmedicalstudentspreparednesstoworkwithvulnerablepopulations
AT kareemraad impactofhumantraffickinganddomesticviolencetrainingonmedicalstudentspreparednesstoworkwithvulnerablepopulations