ACS Intimate Partner Violence Task Force

The mission of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Task Force is to raise awareness of the incidence of IPV in the surgical community, educate surgeons to recognize the signs and consequences of IPV in themselves and their colleagues, provide resources for survivors, including prevention and escape strategies, and create resources and curricula in partnership with other national professional and educational organizations to instruct about how to recognize IPV in colleagues and trainees.

The following core values inform the mission of the task force:

• Respect and compassion for ourselves and our colleagues.
• Inclusion of all members of the surgical community through years of training and practice, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic status, training level, culture, religion, race, or ethnicity.
• Support and understanding of individuals who are presented with life choices and challenges without clear solutions, including supporting those who remain in difficult situations.

The task force has established the following goals and objectives to guide their efforts:

• Raise awareness about IPV in the surgical profession.
• Establish the incidence of IPV among surgeons.
• Develop strategies to support surgeons affected by IPV and to assist with referrals to IPV support resources.
• Establish educational programs for the surgical profession on how to identify and support survivors of IPV.
• Develop peer-to-peer intervention training programs.
• Develop an IPV survivor toolkit for use by surgical societies and surgical training programs.
• Partner with other committees and organizations to develop primary prevention and intervention strategies.

Initial work of the Task Force includes:

• ACS Statement on Intimate Partner Violence
• October 2018 ACS Bulletin articles
  • Addressing intimate partner violence in the surgical community: Is there a need?
  • Lethal means: The deadly combination of firearms and intimate partner violence
  • Victims of violence: An ethical conflict between patient rights and institutional policy
• Moderated Webinars on IPV topics for surgeons
• Town Hall Session on Intimate Partner Violence at the Clinical Congress 2018
• ACS Member Survey on Intimate Partner Violence deployed in January 2019
• Development of IPV Grand Rounds presentation slide set
• IPV presentation during a recent RAS-ACS Grand Rounds Webinar
• IPV and the Surgical Workforce Panel Session at Clinical Congress 2019—offering 1.5 domestic violence CME credit hours
• October 2020 ACS Bulletin articles
• Silent no more: Intimate partner violence and our surgical colleagues
• Surgeons’ guide to intimate partner violence in the era of COVID-19
• Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intimate Partner Violence Panel Session at Clinical Congress 2020
• IPV Presentation for the AAMC Webinar Creating Safe and Inclusive Environments for Faculty and Students in the Biomedical Setting

Intimate Partner Violence Taskforce Roster