The Certificate in Interpersonal Violence and Health Care (CIVHC) fulfills a nationally recognized need to educate and train individuals from a broad range of health disciplines to effectively respond to victims of interpersonal violence.  Offered for the first time beginning in spring 2009, CIVHC is a program of the Center on Domestic Violence in CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs.  It has been developed by the CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs in collaboration with local and national advisors representing schools of nursing, medicine and dentistry, as well as knowledgeable health practitioners skilled in meeting the needs of patients experiencing interpersonal violence.  CIVHC is the first graduate level program of its kind.  As a distance learning program it represents a collaboration within the University of Colorado system—the Downtown Campus, the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Colorado Springs Campus. Its goal is to provide education for health professionals, faculty and students, thereby building proficiency and confidence in interpersonal violence prevention, identification and intervention in Colorado and the nation.

At the completion of this certificate program, participants will have:
■  Leadership skills necessary to improve systematic responses to domestic violence in health care settings
■  Thorough understanding of the health ramifications of interpersonal violence

■  Skill and comfort with screening all patients for domestic violence—victims, offenders and child witnesses

■  Ability to effectively assess and treat adults and children engaged in violent relationships

■  Ability to build resources to meet the needs of patients including, but not limited to, collaboration with community based providers.

Courses required for completion of the certificate:
■  Women and Violence: A Sociological Perspective
■  Psychology of Domestic Violence
■  Battered Women and the Legal System
■  Interpersonal Violence and Health
■  Interpersonal Violence, Health Advocacy and Systems Change

Full course descriptions are available online at www.domesticviolence.ucdenver.edu