Background: Human trafficking is pervasive, with over 80% of victims encountering healthcare providers during their exploitation (Egyud et al., 2017). Health care professionals are uniquely positioned to screen for patients possibly at risk of being trafficked. However, there are critical gaps regarding education of healthcare professionals on human trafficking. This project aims to address this deficiency by implementing a comprehensive educational program at Mayo Clinic.
Purpose: We aimed to introduce and evaluate diverse educational initiatives focused on identifying and responding to human trafficking within the internal medicine residency. Our primary goal is to assess these initiatives’ impact on residents’ knowledge, comfort levels, and available resources concerning human trafficking.
Description: Utilizing pre- and post-surveys, the research evaluated residents’ baseline knowledge and exposure to human trafficking education. Multiple educational platforms were employed for dissemination, including chief pearls, noon-conference presentations, dedicated primary care clinic documents, and brief pearls integrated into morning reports. Information sourced from reputable bodies like the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) and Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (STIR) formed the foundation of these initiatives. The preliminary results revealed limited prior education among residents, with only 29.8% (17/57) reporting previous training. Few felt comfortable interviewing potential victims (8/57, 14%) or knew about available victim resources (12/57, 21%). Post-implementation, 88% (15/17) felt comfortable interviewing victims, and a similar number felt equipped with victim resources. The noon-conference presentations were highly effective for 41% of residents. The final results will compare respondents to non-respondents, assess individual question responses, gauge attitude changes between surveys and use of available resources.
Conclusions: This study’s approach uses accessible educational strategies that were integrated seamlessly into the internal medicine residency curriculum. Our study emphasizes the necessity of integrating human trafficking education within residency programs. A comprehensive curriculum should include reporting protocols, trauma-informed approaches, and understanding healthcare implications for victims. Despite varied efficacy, the study underscores the positive impact of multifaceted education on residents’ readiness to handle potential human trafficking cases.