Can medical schools play a role in preventing gun violence? David Velasquez, a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School, and Jesper Ke, a third-year student at the University of Michigan School of Medicine think so. Their blog, published in StatNews, urges medical schools to take on gun violence by educating their students on the risks and empowering them to proactively speak with patients about gun safety and violence prevention. Just 15 percent of medical schools currently have gun-related material as a component in the curriculum.
The authors suggest the following curriculum updates:
Teach the basics of responsible gun ownership and safety in class. The article notes that first-year medical students at the University of California, San Francisco used a small group discussion-based curriculum, which included a patient counseling role-play exercise.
Invite patients impacted by gun violence to tell their stories and discuss how guns have impacted them physically, mentally, and emotionally (similar to how patients battling disease are invited to share their clinical journey).
Incorporate relevant gun-related content into clinical rotations. The authors note that the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University updated their curriculum to embed firearm safety throughout the four-year program, and incorporate skills exercises into clinical rotations.