Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) can take different forms and can be physical, emotional, sexual, psychological or economic. Both female and male have been reported as IPV victims, with the former accounting for a higher percentage. In fact, one in three women has suffered from IPV worldwide. Due to its common occurrence, healthcare professionals including residents or physicians- in- training in a community-based program are in a unique setting to encounter, counsel, and treat patients who are victims of IPV. However, training is lacking. Our goal was to determine first year residents’ actual knowledge scores measured pre, immediate post, and one-year post IPV educational training. Our residency program partnered with Turning Point, a local domestic violence shelter to provide the training. We asked 34 questions, a subset of the validated tool  Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS), to measure actual knowledge. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0 was used to analyze the data. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Mean (SD) actual knowledge total scores were 26.70 (4.40) pre intervention which increased to 30.15 (2.80) immediate post intervention and decreased to 22.90 (2.65) one year post (p=0.0001). Of the 34 questions, about 70% (24) started with higher than 70% correct responses and stayed high. The training was helpful post immediate. The residents could benefit from a refresher as their knowledge declined in some areas after one year. 

Dr. Brannan has over 30 years of research experience, over 16 years of which are in healthcare and medical education. She is currently a Research Faculty for General Surgery, Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine and OB/GYN residency programs at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Michigan, USA, a training site for Michigan State University. As president of GDB Research and Statistical Consulting, she works with US community hospital-based residencies and fellowship programs and medical schools in creating and implementing research and quality improvement strategies and programming.