California lawmakers awarded University of California, Davis, $3.85 million to develop a training program to prepare medical professionals to have conversations with patients about guns.
The program will be the first of its kind in the nation, according to UC Davis. It will be developed by the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center and led by Amy Barnhorst, MD, who is vice chair for community mental health and an associate professor in UC Davis' department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
"Medical and mental health providers are uniquely positioned to respond to and prevent firearm-related harm," Dr. Barnhorst said in a press release. "Many have asked for more information on when and how to discuss firearms with patients and what to do when patients have access to guns and are at high risk for harming themselves or others."
The goal of the program is to give providers a playbook of best practices for working with patients to reduce firearm-related injury and death.
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