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Firearm Violence
January 2017

Gun Violence and Firearm Safety in Medical School Curricula: Missed Opportunities to Improve Patient Health

Author Affiliations
  • 1Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(1):11-12. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.6734

In medical school, students learn to understand patients as a whole, stepping back from their medical conditions to see the bigger picture. We are taught that the goal in taking a medical history is to understand the factors putting the patient’s health at risk or contributing to an existing disease. What most of us do not learn is how firearms may affect a patient’s health. A recent systematic review found that students and residents infrequently receive training in firearm safety or firearm injury prevention.1

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