Course Description
Summary
Despite decades of political advocacy for gun control, the health toll from firearm misuse in the United States has only continued to rise. Firearm-related injuries and deaths remain among the most urgent, unsolved health emergencies facing our country because society has not yet implemented comprehensive health-based solutions to treat gun violence. The primary obstacle to developing systemic health solutions has been a traditional focus on the firearm device, its characteristics, and one’s right to - or restrictions from - its possession, thereby augmenting socio-political and cultural divisions in US society.
Health professionals recognize that each firearm injury results from a complex, interrelated series of biosocial, environmental, behavioral, and physical risk factors - i.e., the gun handler's mental, physical, and social health. Accordingly, this course addresses the most prevalent health issues that influence how individuals choose to manage firearm exposure, access, carriage, and use. Through a novel, evidence-based health curriculum, students will gain a holistic, operational understanding of the many dimensions of gun violence in the US and their root health causes. In addition, students will be introduced to resources and practical opportunities for immediate, multi-level remedies to gun violence.
Through engagement with an interdisciplinary faculty representing stakeholders from diverse medical specialties, public health, the firearm industry, law enforcement, and the US military, students will gain experience in consensus-building strategies, bystander interventions and simulation training. Readings will include both industry and professional programmatic documents/evaluations as well as peer-reviewed journal articles. At the conclusion of this two-part course, students will have developed an objective framework for evaluating health determinants relevant to firearm risk and an effective communication strategy for discussing firearms and harm reduction to become actors in firearm injury prevention in their unique environments.
Terms