Child abuse experts have an important role to play in ensuring the overall health and wellbeing of children in the community. Child abuse expert witness services provide legal guidance and testimony in child abuse and neglect cases. These pediatricians have dedicated their careers as doctors to evaluating children who may be victims of abuse or neglect. With specialized skills, training, and experience, these expert witness doctors can assist with legal services during child abuse cases. Here’s everything else you need to know about child abuse experts.
What Training Is Required for Child Abuse Experts?
To become a certified child abuse doctor and expert medical witness, individuals need to earn their degrees from college and medical school before completing three to four years of residency training in children’s medicine. Prior to becoming an expert witness in surgery or child abuse, a doctor also needs to participate in further training.
They should have years of experience in child abuse pediatrics, and there’s also a certification available from the American Board of Pediatrics. Child abuse experts can get further certifications, while fellow healthcare providers like family medicine physicians, emergency doctors, and nurse practitioners can also offer expertise in the child abuse field.
What Kind of Services Can Child Abuse Experts Provide?
Child abuse experts are called on for their extensive experience and special training, as they can help to determine the source of a child’s injury and the circumstances behind potential child abuse. Child abuse experts may look for medical explanations or underlying problems that could provide insight into a particular situation. It’s important for child abuse experts to continue their work, because their efforts can protect at-risk children from further abuse and neglect.
These experts will collect medical history from children and their families, speak with children about their situation and examine them, check blood tests and x-rays, and order further testing. Child abuse pediatricians may work alongside other physicians, medical staff, law enforcement, and child protective service agencies.
The goal is to make it possible for all parties involved to stay updated on the health and wellbeing of the child. This work requires careful consideration and detailed evaluations by child abuse experts, who can make a positive difference in the lives of children who really are being abused.
When Do Child Abuse Experts Get Involved?
When child protective services or medical staff suspect that a child is being abused, a child abuse pediatrician is requested to evaluate the child. Parents and primary care doctors may also put in these requests for evaluations from child abuse pediatricians. Sometimes, child abuse experts may look at a child’s medical history to give an expert opinion when asked by law enforcement or lawyers. Those cases may take place long after the child’s initial injury or illness. It’s a child abuse expert’s job to look at all aspects of the case and get a clearer picture of the child’s circumstances.
There are many others involved in this process as well. Doctors, therapists, police officers, and social workers may play a part in child abuse cases, with pediatricians often asked to testify in court. A child abuse expert can paint a clearer picture of what a child’s medical history means. Using this testimony, the court can determine whether or not child abuse occurred, and if so, what needs to happen to protect the child in the future.
If you’re in need of medical expert witness services for a child abuse or neglect case, contact Reliable Clinical Experts today.
