Introduction and Purpose

The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) has developed the Child Maltreatment Medical Curriculum materials to support its mission of creating sustainable child abuse and neglect systems of prevention, protection, and treatment throughout the world.

This curriculum has been developed for medical professionals and students in medical fields. Through 28 hours of didactics and case discussions, the curriculum provides an in-depth introduction to skills that medical professionals need in order to provide diagnosis, medical treatment, and advocacy for children who have been abused and neglected.

Professionals from social services, law enforcement, and the courts are also welcome and encouraged to participate in this curriculum.  The scope of the curriculum is medical in nature, so it will not teach these professionals the full range of information and skills they need in their specific roles, but it will provide a valuable knowledge base of medical and psychosocial issues so they can have a better understanding of how best to help children.

Goals of the Curriculum

ISPCAN endeavors with this Curriculum to:

• Improve the identification and medical treatment of children who have been abused and neglected
• Increase communication, information exchange, and networking among multidisciplinary professionals in local private and public agencies and organizations
• Build and strengthen multi-disciplinary teams
• Strengthen and expand existing services through more qualified professionals
• Increase training of facilitators and number of trainers trained and engaged

Overview of Resources

Below you will find brief descriptions of and links to Accompanying Documents and the 10 Learning Modules that make up the Medical Curriculum.