Consultation for child physical abuse: Beyond the history and physical examination.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the components of an approach to the consultation for suspected child physical abuse beyond the history, physical findings, and laboratory and radiographic data.

METHOD: Description of both a baseline organizational structure and recommended behaviors.

RESULTS

We describe four domains of the approach to the consultation for suspected child physical abuse by child abuse clinicians: (1)components to have in place before a consultation, (2) components of a quality consultation, (3) sharing a final opinion, and (4) inevitable pitfalls.

CONCLUSION

In proposing this approach, we aim both to make transparent and spark discussion about the way we work and to answer questions about the role of child abuse clinicians raised by recent interest in this subject by the mass media.