Elaine J. Alpert, MD, MPH, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T2W, Boston, MA 02118, 617-638-4118, ealpert@bu.edu and Elizabeth M. Cohen, MPH, Rape Crisis Services of Greater Lowell, Inc., 144 Merrimack Street, Suite 304, Lowell, MA 01852.

The public health approach has advanced our understanding of gender based violence (GBV) and our capacity to develop, implement, and disseminate successful intervention and prevention strategies. To ensure successful public health responses to GBV, we must train emerging public health and clinical professionals to become competent in the field. Boston University School of Public Health has developed two courses to help build a critical mass of practitioners. This presentation describes the content and experience with each course, the use of teaching assistants and grassroots direct service providers as partners in the educational process, and recommendations for future initiatives in training public health and other health professionals. “Family Violence and the Practice of Public Health,” (FV) a four-credit master’s level course launched in 1996, is cotaught with a advocate/social worker. FV provides a social ecological overview of child abuse/neglect, child sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse. “Sexual Violence: Public Health Perspectives in Intervention and Prevention,” also a 4-credit course, is cotaught with the executive director of a local rape crisis center. This new course covers epidemiology; gender and power dynamics; health effects, risk and resilience factors; perpetrator characteristics; trafficking of women and children; sexual violence in the context of war; pornography; and the role of the media in both promoting and preventing sexual violence. By the end of each course, students gain sufficient understanding of the field so that they can engage in meaningful and creative work in community-based, policy, or research settings related to GBV.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Articulate the rationale for including teaching about gender-based violence in public health and health professional education,
• Identify steps to create a course syllabus that address the core competencies learners should acquire, and
• Discuss strategies that can be used to develop effective collaborations between academia and community when teaching about gender-based violence.

Keywords: Education, Violence Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Two courses that I developed and teach at Boston University School of Public Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.