Child Abuse and Forensic Pediatric Medicine Fellowship Curriculum Statement

Abstract

Physicians have been involved in the diagnosis and treatment of victims of child abuse and neglect for more than 35 years. In the past decade, a cadre of physicians has developed extensive expertise in the field. Now, physicians are requested for expert consultation by medical, investigative, and legal colleagues. As the field advances, it has become necessary to train more physicians in the field of child abuse and forensic pediatrics as well as to standardize the curricula of the existing fellowships. A joint working group of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Child Abuse and Neglect and the Forensic Pediatrics Physician Leadership Group convened to develop a curriculum for medical fellowships in child abuse and neglect. The authors present the model curriculum developed by this group.