2015-2016 CHAMP Program Annual Summary

Annual Summary PDF (printer friendly version)

CHAMP continues to be seen as a source for quality professional education regarding child abuse. The webcasts, online coursework, website features like Test Your Knowledge, and downloadable practice recommendations and other clinical resources draw a large number of visitors. Comments include:

• Will be developing a reference book of guidelines for medical staff to easily access guidelines for things like photographic documentation and what to do in cases of physical abuse — using the checklists and guidelines provided on the CHAMP websites.

• As a SANE and Coordinator of our county’s Coalition on HT, this was a wonderful hour!

• Will attempt to include teaching on this topic in community education with PCPs.

• I have referred speaker to the International Association of Nurses for their annual conference as a key note. Best webinar ever.

• Thank you again for the fantastic resource CHAMP has been for me and so many others! I always take away valuable information.

• Ranks among the top presentations I have had the privilege to attend.

• This lecture was a great addition to this great series! Thank you again for this great program.

Completed Tasks

Educational Webcasts

There were six CHAMP webcasts this grant year:

1. September 16, 2015 — "CHAMP Resources for Child Abuse Medical Providers" by Ann Botash, MD
2. November 18, 2015 — "Haven’t I seen you before? The Dilemma of Repeated Examinations for Suspected Child Sexual Abuse" by Ann Botash, MD
3. January 13, 2016 — "Updated Guidelines for the Medical Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse" by Vincent Palusci, MD
4. February 10, 2016 — "Bully Busters: Child Abuse as a Risk Factor for Bullying" by Ann Botash, MD
5. March 9, 2016 — "Turn Out: A Medical Response to Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST)" by Dana Kaplan, MD
6. April 21, 2016 — "Missed Opportunities: Addressing Campus Sexual Violence in the Primary Care Clinic" by Amy Brown, MD and Lauren Germain, PHD

Webcast attendees identified themselves as being physicians and nurse practitioners working in pediatrics, emergency medicine and family medicine; SANE/SART/SAFEs; and non-medical members of multidisciplinary teams. There were a total of 834 registrants for the webcasts. Of those who registered, 514 applied for Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit. Both the webcasts and CME credits (one credit per webcast) are free to participants.

Attendees evaluated all webcast presenters as excellent and the content as being clear and helpful. From the responses to the surveys at the end of the webcasts, attendees planned to make significant changes in their practice, including:

• Follow new guidelines for interpretation of anal and hymen findings and when making my diagnosis.
• Base scheduling of examinations on the more specific guidelines presented today.
• Enhance documentation using guidelines from website suggested in webinar.
• Always take photos as it is standard of care with the new guidelines.
• Consider getting MRI vs CT in children less than 12 months with no new findings in order to decrease radiation exposure.
• Be more aware of the individuals surrounding the victims, as there is no general profile for pimps.
• Be mindful of potential for bullying leading to re-victimization when seeing children with history of abuse for routine well visits.
• Be aware of alternate diagnosis for children presenting for recurrent sexual abuse exams.

The Evaluating Child Sexual Abuse Course

The online course Evaluating Child Sexual Abuse continues to be an effective educational tool for pediatricians, emergency department physicians, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners, and SANEs. Between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, 172 professionals registered for the course. By June 30, 81 had passed the 100-question test. Of those who passed the test, 26 applied for CME credit and 25 applied for American Board of Pediatrics Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit. Although the course is free, there is a small charge for the 12 CME credits and 20 MOC points.

The ECSA course was originally created to be the first step for NY medical professionals to become CHAMP Members. Its use has expanded to being part of child abuse training for medical residents and self-preparation for certification examinations. From the launch of the course in September 2011 through June 2015, there have been 927 registrants. Of those, 484 have passed the test and 266 have applied for CME credit.

Other CHAMP Website Resources

This grant year the CHAMPprogram.com website drew over 165,000 visitors. In addition to viewing web pages, visitors downloaded a significant number of resources. Tracking the number of downloads from the top 150 resources or items offered on the website, there were over 35,000 downloads. That total includes nearly 3,500 Practice Recommendations relating to Triage, Testing and Treatment, Skeletal Survey, and Photographic Documentation. In addition, the 24 questions and answers of Test Your Knowledge were visited over 49,000 times.

The ChildAbuseMD.com website that posts the searchable webbook Child Abuse Evaluation & Treatment for Medical Providers had nearly 280,000 visitors. Since ChildAbuseMD.com was launched in mid-2005 and CHAMPprogram.com was launched in mid-2007, there have been nearly four million visitors to these websites.

CHAMP Network Members

This grant year two medical professional were added to the roster of Active Members after they passed the Evaluating Child Sexual Abuse course and completed an observership. They are Jessica Falgiatano, NP, Cortland County and Sherry LaPerche, FNP, Westchester County.

Each year Members must attend at least three CHAMP educational webcasts in order to remain on the Active Member roster. Of the 27 Active Members that started this grant year, 24 maintained Active status by attending CHAMP webcasts. Three became Inactive by retiring or failing to meet the education requirement. Two new medical professionals became Active Members and three Inactive members completed education requirements to become Active. As a result, there were 29 Active Members as of June 30, 2016.

CHAMP Education for Residents and Medical Students

The Child Abuse Referral and Evaluation (CARE) clinic at the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, a program of the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, provides educational programs for medical students and residents. This year ten SUNY Upstate pediatric residents rotated in the clinic and ten St. Joseph’s Hospital family medicine residents visited the clinic one half day a week for a month. In addition, a fourth year medical student completed a one-year elective in the clinic. All three programs include taking the online course Evaluating Child Sexual Abuse.

In addition, Linda Cahill, MD, at the J.E. and Z.B. Butler Child Advocacy Center of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore had 12 residents complete the CHAMP Residency Training Program. Residents who complete this program can become CHAMP Members when they are licensed to practice in NYS by submitting three of their recent child sexual abuse cases for review by a CHAMP expert.

Recommendation

Within the medical community there is a growing awareness of domestic minor sex trafficking and the need to help teenagers be better prepared to prevent sexual assault on college campuses. The responses from attendees of the webcasts on these topics indicate an interest and a need for more information and resources. CHAMP could be play an active part in the creation and dissemination of these materials.