After yesterday’s post I received a request from an FHO reader for more resources on caring for patients who have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting (literature seems to be divided on the proper terminology so I am using both here). Not surprisingly, there isn’t a huge amount of clinically-focused information out there, and much of it is specific to obstetrics. I rounded up what appeared to be the best and most current articles and clinical guidelines (mostly free full-text) and included links to previous FHO posts addressing the same topic. As always, it’s not exhaustive (I opted to leave most of the obstetric-specific information out), but hopefully it’s useful.
Category: Sexual Assault
Today is my sweet kid’s 13th birthday, so I am officially the parent of a teenager. I have no idea how that happened. A minute ago she was a newborn and now she’s this funny, interesting, incredibly smart kid who makes me proud every day. Naturally we spent the weekend celebrating (ziplining and dim sum, anyone?) and gorging on homemade Hostess-type treats (my spouse whipped up Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Cupcakes complete with squiggly frosting). Pretty much the only thing I could do after the weekend calorie bombardment was to loll around last night and surf my social media sites. Which is what I did. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
This week’s full-text offering is from The Permanente Journal and it addresses an issue that certainly doesn’t get discussed enough in healthcare circles: male patients who have experienced child sexual abuse. Coincidentally, I just saw that IAFN posted this article on Facebook, as well, so perhaps some of you have read the article already. If not, I recommend it. Click through for more details:
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#STD Surveillance
Surveillance data is extremely useful for us; the CDC guidelines are one resource for making decisions about how we treat our patients, but the actual information about what STDs are being seen in our communities, what problems may exists regarding things like antibiotic resistance, and other considerations, are also part of the calculus. For instance, if you have a high rate of syphilis in your community, you may choose to test as a part of your patient care.
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Since Last We Spoke 7-21-14
We finally cleared the last of our houseguests yesterday (that’s 10 days of people in our tiny place for those of you tracking), so we’re back to status quo. I head down to the NAC for the Army this week, but aside from that it should be relatively mellow. I was busy playing tourist in my own city this weekend, but there was still plenty of time to catch up on the news of the day. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
This week’s Full-Text Friday offering addresses the issue of multiple perpetrator rapes of adolescent girls (sad commentary: I can’t combine those words in the title of this post because of the disgusting trolls that come out of the woodwork). I hear a lot of speculative testimony, and occasionally it is about expectations of injury following sexual assault by multiple assailants. There’s not a ton of research on this topic, so I am pleased to offer this article up as a way to help inform us about the clinical picture of this patient population:
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A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
Somehow I missed this when it was held in May, but thankfully there’s an archived presentation: Vera Institute’s Center on Victimization and Safety has an archived webinar available on helping patients with disabilities understand the sexual assault medical-forensic exam. A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words is available for viewing; I haven’t reviewed it yet, but it looks like a pretty invaluable contribution to the discussion around promising practices. Click through for details:
The TB dye guide is one of the original guides on this site and it hasn’t been updated since I posted it first in 2009. So I’ve remedied that–hopefully you’ll find it helpful. Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten any valuable resources. I’m always happy to add them.
If you aren’t looking to your state anti-violence coalitions for continuing education, you’re missing some great opportunities. State coalitions do a lot of training, and many are putting on webinars and online courses that have relevance far beyond their state’s borders. Click through for some of the upcoming events, and feel free to add others in the comments (I’ll take those outside the US, too, please):
This weekend was all about the big promotion, with family descending upon DC and filling every corner of our tiny dollhouse of a home. But it was pretty spectacular, and now almost everyone has gone home, and life should return to normal. Normal, of course, includes travel, so I’ll head to the Air Force JAG school later in the week for a tick. Still, there was plenty of time to read, and as always, it appears sexual violence is dominating the headlines (including this massive and painfully familiar sounding article that appeared on the front page of the NY Times). Here’s what has caught my eye since last we spoke:
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Trigger Warning: Breakfast
This is such a powerful, compelling piece– everyone should read it. Thanks to all of you who sent it my way.
I am so excited to sit down with this: Delivery and Evaluation of Sexual Assault Forensic (SAFE) Training Programs (PDF). The report addresses the initial offering of the online SAFE training + 2 day clinical practicum provided by IAFN and evaluated by Debra Patterson and her team. There’s some really promising results here and it gives us some direction for rethinking how we deliver both didactic and clinical education. Definitely a worthwhile read, especially for those of you conducting SAFE training or debating ways in which to get new clinicians educated.
Here we go: vacation is behind us and a modified (but still busy) travel season resumes for our household. Happily it’s not me on the road this week, but after taking a week off, I can hardly corral my to-do list. Always a trade-off, that whole taking time off thing. Hopefully US readers enjoyed a happy and relaxing 4th–we certainly did (and it was a far more social one than I am used to). But all in all, there was plenty of downtime and a good amount of reading therein. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
Greetings from Smith Mountain Lake! It’s the perfect place for lazing about, on the deck or down at the dock, doing nothing but eating and reading. Coincidentally, that is exactly what my plan is for the week. So here’s what has caught my eye since last we spoke:
Here’s a piece worth your time: the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse at NDAA just published Crimes Against Children: Examining Technology’s Impact on Victimization and Witness Intimidation (PDF). Want to better understand how technology is impacting our pediatric patients and how offenders are gaining access to them? This is a great (and brief) overview of what’s out there right now, and what the issues are. Good for parents, as well. {Full disclosure: the author is my wife.}
Time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly overview of what’s new and noteworthy in the peer-reviewed literature. There’s plenty to check out for June–as always, links lead to PubMed abstracts. Contact me if you’d prefer this in a Word doc.
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Since Last We Spoke 6-23-14
I’m having a tough time ramping up for my work week this morning. Could be the impending vacation (no worries, there will be [some] posts while I’m away). Could be that I was so completely productive last week I just feel like coasting a bit. Either way, the internet can be a distraction when I’m in this mindset, so I have been happily perusing all of the links I’d tucked away from the weekend. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
Oh man, I do love me a good research compilation, and CALCASA delivers: the 2014 Sexual Violence Research Review is now available. Read the executive summary here; download the full report here (PDF). Super excited about this one.
And speaking of excited, come back tomorrow for the 2014 TIP Report, being released tomorrow by the State Department. It’s like nerd paradise up in here.
The Tribal Forensic Healthcare project is hosting a new webinar, Straddle Injury vs. Sexual Abuse: Managing Traumatic Genital Injury in Children. The session will be held July 22nd from 3-4:30 pm ET. Jennifer Pierce-Weeks will be the featured speaker. 1.5 CEUs are available for nurses. Click through for details:
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Reproductive Coercion
The Family Justice Center Alliance has another webinar coming up–this one on reproductive coercion. The session will be held June 26th from 10-11:30 am PT. Click through for details: