Intimate Partner Violence Screening and Counseling: An Introductory Session for Health Care Professionals.

Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a serious public health concern in the United States. Despite recommendations that physicians should routinely screen their patients, research has shown that lack of specific training has resulted in many health care professionals feeling unable to adequately perform this difficult but vital task. Though many educational resources exist to teach intimate partner violence screening, they often lack specific guidance on how to navigate this difficult conversation. In addition, they often lack formal teaching on how to counsel and refer patients who are victims of intimate partner violence. Methods: This unique module, intended for a small-group setting of four to eight students, contains an intimate partner violence checklist with sample language that covers both screening and counseling using a motivational interviewing framework. Additional materials include a checklist companion for tips on how to navigate the conversation, two cases for role-play, a facilitator guide, and an objective structured clinical encounter case and assessment rubric. Results: This module was given to 260 second-year medical students at the Warren Alpert Medical School between 2015 and 2017 and was rated highly by almost 90% of students. Discussion: After completing this module, learners will be able to appropriately screen for intimate partner violence as well as counsel and refer patients who have screened positive. By implementing this module, educators can increase the number of health care professionals able to broach this difficult conversation with patients who may be in need of help and may otherwise go unaided.

Twelve tips for developing, implementing, and sustaining medical education fellowship programs: Building on new trends and solid foundations.

Medical education fellowship programs (MEFPs) are a form of faculty development contributing to an organization's educational mission and participants' career development. Building an MEFP requires a systematic design, implementation, and evaluation approach which aligns institutional and individual faculty goals. Implementing an MEFP requires a team of committed individuals who provide expertise, guidance, and mentoring. Qualified MEFP directors should utilize instructional methods that promote individual and institutional short and long term growth. Directors must balance the use of traditional design, implementation, and evaluation methodologies with advancing trends that may support or threaten the acceptability and sustainability of the program. Drawing on the expertise of 28 MEFP directors, we provide twelve tips as a guide to those implementing, sustaining, and/or growing a successful MEFP whose value is demonstrated by its impacts on participants, learners, patients, teaching faculty, institutions, the greater medical education community, and the population's health.

What are the implications of implementation science for medical education?

BACKGROUND: Derived from multiple disciplines and established in industries outside of medicine, Implementation Science (IS) seeks to move evidence-based approaches into widespread use to enable improved outcomes to be realized as quickly as possible by as many as possible. METHODS: This review highlights selected IS theories and models, chosen based on the experience of the authors, that could be used to plan and deliver medical education activities to help learners better implement and sustain new knowledge and skills in their work settings. RESULTS: IS models, theories and approaches can help medical educators promote and determine their success in achieving desired learner outcomes. We discuss the importance of incorporating IS into the training of individuals, teams, and organizations, and employing IS across the medical education continuum. Challenges and specific strategies for the application of IS in educational settings are also discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing IS in medical education can help us better achieve changes in competence, performance, and patient outcomes. IS should be incorporated into curricula across disciplines and across the continuum of medical education to facilitate implementation of learning. Educators should start by selecting, applying, and evaluating the teaching and patient care impact one or two IS strategies in their work.