The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health began teaching courses on firearm safety in January 2023.
The courses were started and are taught by clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Dr. James Bigham.
Given the increasing rates of firearm injuries and deaths in the U.S., primary care physicians play an essential role in helping prevent firearm injuries, according to Bigham.
“As I began to think more about that, I realized that the way for us to, I think, get better engaged, is to get better training that involves just becoming more competent, including just an awareness around the culture of firearms,” Bigham said.
The course’s goal is to create a safe space to learn and to ask open and honest questions about firearms, Bigham said.
The courses provide hands-on experience for medical students to demystify firearms and the social tension surrounding gun safety in the U.S., Bigham said.
Bigham works with the owner of Max Creek Outdoors, a gun shop originating in Oregon, Wisconsin, to provide the hands-on experience for students to familiarize them with how firearms operate and increase cultural competency.
The owner of Max Creek Outdoors, Steve D’Orazio, believes that clinicians should be talking to patients about firearms to prevent injuring themselves or others, according to Bigham.
In Wisconsin, there are over 40 gun shops that hold onto individuals’ firearms at no cost or low cost when they are in a mental health crisis, according to Bigham.
Bigham spoke about how these courses revealed a blind spot he had as a healthcare professional.
“I prefer actually, just making sure I’m leaning into my role as a primary care doctor to try to prevent injury, and that’s kind of the common ground I try to find some patients through just sharing and asking because language really matters,” Bigham said.
Bigham believes it is important that healthcare providers use proper verbiage when talking about firearms, as it can be a sensitive topic.
Using the right language can help patients understand that doctors ask questions about gun ownership to minimize the risk of firearm injury to patients, themselves and their family members, Bigham said.
This March, UW will host medical schools from across the Midwest to discuss implementing more standardized firearm injury prevention curriculums, according to Bigham.
“I really am hopeful that we’re going to be able to demonstrate to folks around the state, as well as around the country, that this may be a way to address this,” Bigham said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms are the number one cause of death for children aged 1-19, in the U.S.
Additionally, the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Educational Fund found that in 2022, 830 people died from guns in suicides, homicides or other ways, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
“We’re going to save lives at the end of the day,” Bigham said. “It’s all about caring about our communities … caring about the patient sitting in front of me and the clinic, each day.”
Bigham said that the hope in continuing these courses is to help patients make the best choices for themselves and to minimize their risk of harm for themselves and their families.
