STOP (Sexual Trauma Outreach & Prevention)

Faculty Advisor: Lisa Messersmith, ljmesser@bu.edu

Contact:

Mission:
1. To raise the awareness of medical students to the issues surrounding sexual
trauma (its occurrence, prevention, vulnerable populations, etc.);
2. To educate medical students about the specific medical needs of sexual trauma
survivors and how to best support these patients;
3. To develop materials and methods for medical students and physicians to use for
sexual assault education and prevention;
4. To provide valuable resources and advocacy to sexual trauma survivors in the
community.

Goals:
1. Offering well-attended, engaging lunch talks for members of the BUMC community.
2. Integrate more sexual assault education into the BUSM required curriculum to prepare students to counsel and support survivor patients they encounter, especially in pre-clinical ICM settings.
3. Establish sustainable fundraising for “care kits” to be donated to sexual assault survivors who present to BMC’s ED.
4. Create, study, and implement new guidelines for physicians to use when counseling adolescent patients about sex that include discussions and education about sexual consent.
5. Promote improved care and advocacy for sexual assault survivors through research projects in the ED and in homeless populations.
6. Ensure that our group is sustainable in the coming years, and that new leadership is organized and motivated to continue to push this group forward.