Firearm-related victimization, injury and death are among the most urgent public health problems facing our country, but there exists no utilitarian set of solutions.  Firearm injuries create an expansive series of direct and indirect negative health outcomes that ripple throughout communities, and each episode of gun violence is the consequence of a complex interrelated series of biosocial, environmental, behavioral and physical risk factors.  By understanding gun violence as a preventable disease and applying public health prevention techniques to this epidemic, healthcare professionals and their communities may develop systems of care to optimize gun safety, reduce risk and minimize public harm at every opportunity.

This course introduces students to the most prevalent public health issues related to the causes of gun violence, and explores the many multi-level health strategies that may be developed to prevent and treat gun violence in American society. Students will also gain exposure and experience in program design by creating, operationalizing and evaluating the impact of a novel, narrative-based educational framework for community outreach that unifies community stakeholders with their health systems, healthcare providers and first responders. Readings will involve both real-world programmatic documents/evaluations as well as peer-reviewed journal articles.

This course will be taught by Emergency Medicine Physician, Dr. Christopher Barsotti from AFFIRM: American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction.

(May 2, 3)