PERSONAL EXPOSURE OF FACULTY AND MEDICAL-STUDENTS TO FAMILY VIOLENCE

Objective.-To determine the prevalence of exposure to personal family violence among medical students and full-time faculty at a major medic al center. Design.-Self-reported, double-mailing, anonymous survey con ducted in September 1995. Participants.-Of 406 medical students and 91 7 full-time faculty surveyed, 787 (59%) responded, including 217 stude nts and 559 faculty members who identified academic status and 292 wom en and 482 men who identified gender. Main Outcome Measure.-Self-repor ted personal experience with partner abuse, child abuse, physical abus e, and sexual abuse. Results.-Response rates were higher for women (69 %) than men (54%) (P<.001) and were higher for faculty (61%) than stud ents (53%) (P=.01). Of the 787 respondents, 99 (12.6%; 95% confidence interval [Cl], 10.9%-15.6%) reported physical abuse, sexual abuse, or both by a partner during their adult life, 118 (15.0%; 95% CI, 12.8%-1 7.8%) reported physical abuse, sexual abuse, or both as a child, and 1 88 (23.9%; 95% CI, 22.0%-28.1%) reported physical abuse, sexual abuse, or both in their lifetime. Based on positive responses, a minimum of 17% of the female medical students and faculty and 3% of the male medi cal students and faculty have experienced physical abuse or sexual abu se by a partner in their adult Conclusions.-Family violence is a perva sive problem that crosses into the personal experience of medical prof essionals. The conservative estimate of partner abuse for female medic al students and faculty appears comparable with the general population national estimates. The acknowledgment by physicians that family viol ence is a potential risk for everyone, physicians and patients alike, is a step toward enhancing the identification of abuse and initiating interventions on behalf of survivors of family violence.