title: The experience of paediatric residents participating in a child protection rotation: A qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Practitioners working in the field of child maltreatment are at risk for vicarious traumatization. For Canadian paediatric residents, exposure to child abuse during training is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore how paediatric residents experience a mandatory rotation within a hospital-based child protection team (CPT) from an emotional and professional development standpoint.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight paediatric residents were interviewed following their CPT rotation and transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. Exemplar quotes were then highlighted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FOUR MAJOR THEMES WERE IDENTIFIED: baseline experiences; individual resident factors; intrinsic CPT rotation factors; and overall rotation assessment. The themes and their subthemes were used to inform a conceptual model of residents' experiences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge provided through residents' accounts can be applied to strengthen future educational opportunities in the field of child maltreatment and offer insight to help guide the development of support systems and debriefing processes that are important in this challenging field.
authors.affiliation: IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia;
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lewington
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unruh
authors.affiliation: IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia;
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ornstein
keywords: Child abuse; Child advocacy; Medical education; Paediatrics; Qualitative research