This narrative illuminates need for students and clinicians to be well prepared to face ethically and structurally complex realities of identifying and responding to children who might have been abused. The commentary considers how to draw on equity as an ethical value when communicating with children's family members in clinical settings.Reflections on Mandatory Reporting "Does anyone know how this baby might have sustained these leg lesions?" Our pediatrics professor asks this question while projecting a photograph during a lecture to first-year medical students, including me. We squirm. "Notice the symmetrical, welldemarcated lesions," the professor continues. We avert our eyes. Finally, one student offers, "Child abuse?"
Medical students are taught to cherish the ethical mandate to "do no harm." However, the competency to actualize this mandate -or at least theorize how -is not always available to students on pediatrics clerkship when they encounter situations suspicious for child abuse. Mandated reporter training for medical students is largely perfunctory and does not prepare students to identify or document instances of suspected child abuse. Such training approaches students from the threatening angle that they can face punitive measures if they fail to report suspected abuse. In the absence of more thorough, ethics-driven training, students learn informally about their responsibilities as mandated reporters by observing pediatricians communicate about their own interactions with Child Protective Services (CPS), if the topic arises during clerkship.
Language and cultural-concordant healthcare providers improve health outcomes for deaf patients, yet training opportunities are lacking. The Deaf Health Pathway was developed to train medical students on cultural humility and communication in American Sign Language to better connect with deaf community members and bridge the gap in their healthcare.
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