Sexual Assault Quick Reference

Angelo Giardino is the medical director of Texas Children's Health Plan, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and an attending physician for the Texas Children's Hospital's forensic pediatrics service at the Children's Assessment Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Giardino completed his residency and fellowship training in pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Immediately after his fellowship training, Dr. Giardino became the assistant, and then the associate, medical director at Health Partners of Philadelphia, where he had primary responsibility for utilization management, intensive case management, and health care data analysis. He also shared responsibility for the plan's quality improvement program. Additionally, Dr. Giardino began the Child Abuse and Neglect Team for Children with Special Health Care Needs, which was funded by a three-year grant from a local philanthropist. In 1998, he was appointed associate chair of clinical operations in the Department of Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and in June of 1999, he was asked to chair the CHOP Quality Committee. These accomplishments are only a few of his career.

Elizabeth Datner is the medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She joined the department in July 1995 after completing the George Washington University/Georgetown University Combined Emergency Medicine Residency Training Program. Dr. Datner received her MD from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1991. Her research interests lie in the areas of interpersonal violence and women's health, specifically domestic violence, youth violence, and pregnancy-related emergencies.

Janice Asher received her MD from Rush medical College in 1977. She is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is also the medical director of Women's Health in the Student Health Service at the university. From 1966 to 2001, Dr. Asher was the clinical director for Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility. Currently, she is the clinical director for the Institute of Safe Families, a Philadelphia-based organization specializing in professional training, policy development, and multidisciplinary coordination of relationship violence victim services. Dr. Asher has lectured widely on the subject of relationship violence and trained medical students and physicians across the United States in violence assessment and intervention in the medical setting.

Barbara Girardin earned her PhD in nursing from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Currently employed as a forensic nurse, trainer, and grant writer by the Healing Hearts Rape Crisis Center in Tamuning, Guam, she has 31 years of clinical practice experience in the acute and critical care of adolescents and adults, with eight years of clinical practice in forensic nursing, conducting acute sexual assault exams, developing policies and standards of practice, and receiving funding for federal grants. Dr. Girardin served as a consultant for the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), Guam and at Naval Hospital, Guam, where she teaches the sexual assault advocate program at the Family Service Center. She authors a newsletter column titled "Research Briefs in Forensic Nursing" for the International Association of Forensic Nurses. She has also conducted community education programs for more than 500 middle and high school students, parents, and military commands on the topic of sexual assault. Dr. Girardin has served and is available as an expert forensic witness in sexual assault cases.

Diana Faugno earned her nursing degree at the University of North Dakota in 1973. She currently serves on the board of directors for End Violence Against Women International, the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN), and the California American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Diana dem-onstrates her passion for and commitment to helping patients through her work as a sexual assault nurse examiner at the the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. She also is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Science and a distinguished fellow of IAFN. In addition, Diana co-authors books, writes numerous journal and magazine articles, and trains teams across the country on various topics related to sexual assault.

Mary Spencer is medical director of the Child Abuse Program and the Sexual Abuse Response Team at Palomar-Pomerado Health in North San Diego County. She received her BA from the University of Colorado and MD from the University of California-Los Angeles. After medical school, Dr. Spencer completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at UCLA and worked as an assistant professor at the school until 1982. Currently, she is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California-San Diego and has a private practice in pediatric and infectious disease medicine in Escondido.

The whole subject of sexual abuse is thoroughly canvassed. There are color photographs of the many different kinds of assault, different age groups, the disabled, all areas of the body that can be subjected to assault, with comparative photos of injury and non-injury. The many instructive essays blanket this topic very well indeed. Lawyers preparing cases in this field of law will find this text of immense help.

The Barrister
Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association
September, 2003 - No. 69

These quick references are a valuable resource for background information involving child abuse cases.

Captain Russell Elzinga, EMT-P, FF
Creve Coeur Fire Protection District