Congratulations! You have successfully registered for the virtual workshop.

You will receive an email notification with the zoom link 24 hours before the workshop begins.

Empowering Patient Centered Care: Online Module

Welcome! Thanks for being here. This module is intended to prepare participants for the interactive virtual case based workshop. It contains key definitions and information necessary to obtain the full benefit of the learning experience and obtain your CME credits.

Content Flag: this course contains discussion of all forms of sexual violence including against children. Although no graphic details are contained here it may be activating for some for a variety of reasons. It also provides context of sexual violence including references to historical and current forms of racialized violence such as residential schools as well as gender and sexual orientation based violence.

Please consider your own self care needs during and after this module.

These are not easy or straightforward issues to navigate and may invoke discomfort in participants for various reasons, even without lived experience. The fact that you chose this course means you want to improve the care you provide so thank you for accepting the challenge.

To ensure you have all the time you need to process, this module is self paced: my recommendation is to take it as slow as you need, make notes, look things up that are new to you, and talk with your colleagues along the way. As you can see in the policy on the purchase page, if you decide you can’t finish the module by the workshop date you signed up for, please reach out and we will rebook you for another time.

Step One:

Complete this pre-test (opens in new tab), then return to this page to continue.

Step Two:

Feel free to review the facilitator information, course objectives and acknowledgements below or proceed directly to the course page. You will need to sign in to access the course.

If you do find this content to be activating and would like to speak to someone you can find crisis lines such as the Ottawa Rape Crisis Center 24/7 help line (613 562 2333) and others at the following link:

Ending Violence Association of Canada

Other Resources:

Meet your Facilitator

Marita has worked as a pediatric Registered Nurse for over a decade, specializing as a Forensic Nurse Examiner for children and youth affected by sexual violence including sexual abuse/assault and trafficking. Seeing the significant need for education in this area, in 2021 she became a sexual health educator and has worked since to provide health care providers and the broader community with a trauma and violence informed, evidence based, intersectional perspective on sexual health, abuse prevention and survivor centered care.

Fun fact: Marita is also the artist behind the nature photography you see throughout this course. Time with nature is deeply healing and spending time exploring the land and looking for new ways to see beauty in every season has been a lifelong practice of hers.

Acknowledgements & note from the author

This course was inspired by you: it was created in response to conversations with both PCP and ACP paramedic students I had the privilege of teaching over the years who expressed both a lack of access and a desire to gain competency in these areas. Thank you for listening to the very earliest and roughest versions of this educational material, and for asking the questions and sharing the stories that provided the impetus to create this course in the first place.

Thank you to the SANE’s, educators, researchers and other colleagues who freely offered their time to provide invaluable ideas and feedback. My deep gratitude to all of you who reviewed the material, asked key questions and helped to refine and clarify language and concepts. I am also deeply grateful to the paramedics who did the same while suggesting practical questions to answer and offering crucial front line perspectives to build relevance to practice.

On a personal level, I also want to take this opportunity to share my utmost respect and gratitude for paramedics and the work you do. I have worked with you in the ED caring for countless patients from neonates born at 26 weeks to teenage trauma patients, mental health and everything in between, and have seen the dedication, skill and compassion you bring to your work every day. I have been cared for by medics, had medics care for and save lives of people I love, and have two brilliant hard working medics in my family. Your job is incredibly challenging and draining both personally and professionally and the depth of the impact you have on our communities is not easy to fully articulate.

Thank you for doing what you do.

Course Objectives: Online Module

  1. Define sexual violence including sexual assault, sexual abuse, IPV and sexual exploitation

  2. Outline demographics of sexual violence in Canadian context and explore contributing dynamics

  3. Define trauma & trauma informed care and list health impacts of sexual trauma in children and youth

  4. Describe primary assessment of patients affected by sexual violence including strangulation prevalence, assessment and sequelae

  5. List legal and forensic considerations and evidence collection timelines for sexual assault patients

  6. Define consent in a variety of contexts; discuss nuances of mandatory reporting to CAS and consent based police reporting (using BLS guidelines)

  7. Reflect on personal impacts of exposure to trauma and explore personal strategies for wellness while acknowledging contributing systemic factors

Course Objectives: Virtual Workshop

  1. Integrate knowledge gained through online module into decision making using case examples

  2. Demonstrate the use of trauma and violence informed frameworks in the approach to care

  3. Identify concerns for human trafficking and IPV in case examples & describe approach to screening

  4. List care options provided by Ontario Network of SA/DVTC’s and name hotlines for sexual assault/abuse and human trafficking support

  5. Demonstrate strategies for low impact debriefing with colleagues

Scheduling Policies

Pre-workshop details

You will receive a reminder email with the zoom link one day before the workshop. You will need access to zoom, preferably with a camera. Please come ready to talk through scenarios together and with any questions you may have.

Cancellation Policies

If you are unable to attend the workshop date you booked you can reach out by email up to 24 hours before the workshop to request a new booking date. You will maintain your access to the online module.

Payment Policies

Secure payments are made through PayPal. If you prefer e-transfer feel free to send an email to request a manual booking.