RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 They Didn’t Believe Her Pain: My Education in Interpersonal Violence
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 361
OP 363
DO 10.1370/afm.2266
VO 16
IS 4
A1 Goodfellow, Amelia
A1 Bone, Curtis
A1 Gelberg, Lillian
YR 2018
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/4/361.abstract
AB In my first year of medical school, I began to care for patients who were survivors of interpersonal violence. As I transitioned from didactics to clinical experiences, I was struck by how common the hidden threads of physical and sexual violence were in my patients’ stories of chronic pain, depression, and poor health outcomes. Their symptoms often seemed intangible and challenging to treat, unable to fit neatly into typical diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms. In response, I saw clinicians become frustrated and dissatisfied with their ability to treat these patients. Better care for survivors may begin simply with believing our patients’ pain.