Objectives: Under-reporting despite high prevalence of domestic violence (DV) indicates a serious gap in identifying and reporting domestic violence. Therefore, this study aims to assess the readiness of healthcare workers in identifying and handling intimate partner violence. 

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Domestic Violence Health Care Provider Survey tool among medical and dental interns and residents in Saudi Arabia to assess their readiness to detect, manage and prevent spousal abuse. 

Results: 221 participants completed the survey; 53.8% of the respondents were interns and 43.4% were residents. The study showed that only 5.9% of respondents have participated in DV courses during their undergraduate years in medical school. 72.8% of doctors either did not know or were not sure of Saudi national policies to manage DV and 86.9% of the health care providers were not aware of the national help line number to report a suspected DV case. 

Conclusion: Lack of teaching and training sessions on managing domestic violence during the undergraduate years shows that health care professionals are evidently underprepared and calls for an urgent need to introduce an interprofessional education curriculum that trains health care professionals of all concerned specialties at undergraduate level on managing domestic violence.

Eman Zaher is a former assistant professor at Princess Noura University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She has been a consultant in family medicine since 2009, and graduated from the Arab and Saudi boards of family medicine 2004. Zaher obtained her Masters of Public Health from the University of Toronto, 2013. Al Romaih is a consultant in family medicine. She completed the Arab and Saudi boards of family medicine in 2004, in addition to obtaining her fellowship in adolescence medicine from the United States of America in 2010. Both Zaher and Al Romaih work in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .