HEAL Direct Services Committee Virtual Salon with Melinda Lopez, MD

Webinar hosted by HEAL Trafficking Direct Services Committee.

Chair(s): Dr. Katherine Hargitt, PsyD, and Dr. Rachel Robitz, MD
Assistant: Lucy Mahaffey

Panelist: Dr. Melinda Lopez, MD, OBGYN at People’s Community Clinic, a FQHC in Austin, Texas, presented her work and led a discussion around the following questions:
1) The aftercare medical needs of survivors. Do these services need to be provided at a specialty clinic for HT? How might it look in private practice? What are core elements of this care?;
2) What are barriers to screening for HT among well-informed medical providers who have been trained in trauma-informed care and HT? Does screening for trauma/asking questions regarding trauma prove harmful for patients? What is the appropriate way to proceed when patients do not want to be screened for trauma?; and
3) How do we protect ourselves, staff, and other patients from danger that can result from assisting a patient to escape a situation of trauma? What are the ethical obligations in this scenario? Case studies were provided to help guide the discussion and stimulate conversation.