Should we be concerned? A qualitative study of educators' perceptions of medical student wellbeing in domestic violence training.

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic violence (DV) is common in the Australian community so it is likely that there will be medical students who are affected personally by DV. Some of these students may find DV training confronting or even re-traumatising. A trauma-informed medical education (TIME) framework utilising trauma-informed care principles may minimise this risk to students. We aimed to explore educators' perceptions of student well-being in Australian medical school DV training.

Method: This descriptive qualitative study interviewed 13 educators with experience teaching DV in Australian medical schools using an interpretivist methodology and a TIME framework. Interview data was thematically analysed to identify themes.

Results: Four key themes included (1) educators thrown in at the deep end; (2) keeping students emotionally safe; (3) a trauma-informed learning environment and; (4) challenges of student DV disclosures. Few of the participants had received training in DV. Educators used methods such as trigger warnings and ground rules to improve student's emotional safety. Experienced educators dealt with disclosures of DV by students which led to role confusion.

Discussion: There is a need for increased training of medical educators that includes awareness and implementation of TIME principles when training medical students in DV as well as increased supports and resources for educators.