More than 33,600 deaths and 84,200 nonfatal injuries in the U.S. were caused by guns in 2013, the CDC estimates.
To help prevent these deaths and injuries, the 13 percent to 41 percent of physicians who own firearms should lead cultural competence training in firearm safety counseling for other physicians, according to a viewpoint published in JAMA.
Marian Betz, MD, assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, and Garen Wintemute, MD, professor and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at University of California-Davis in Sacramento, wrote that physicians not only need the right to speak openly with patients about gun safety, but also need to be prepared to have these conversations.
Just as ethnic heritage, religious belief and sexual orientation are considered cultural competencies for physicians, firearm ownership links individuals to a particular culture that includes subcultures, they wrote. Perspectives and preferences may vary across the culture of firearm ownership, based on reasons for owning them.
While not every physician may be familiar with guns and gun ownership, those who are should share their knowledge to help other physicians learn how to respectfully communicate and educate with patients who own guns, especially high-risk patients, Drs. Betz and Wintemute wrote.
More articles on integration and physician issues:
UPMC to post star ratings of physicians
Physician leaders want to hold physicians accountable for costs and quality
Female physicians earn less than male physicians, study finds