Institute Impact: Supporting sexual assault victims

Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute provided funding to begin Penn State’s Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) Center. This program uses telehealth to enhance access and quality of sexual assault care in rural and underserved communities in Pennsylvania. This is one example of the institute’s efforts to address rural health disparities.

One aim of the SAFE-T Center’s work is to gather community stakeholders and identify community strengths in order to provide resources and support to shore up gaps in care for sexual assault victims.

“Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Insitute support was instrumental in establishing the SAFE-T simulation lab prior to launching telehealth at our initial partner sites,” said Sheridan Miyamoto, principal investigator of SAFE-T Center. “That funding allowed us to purchase training mannequins and equip the lab to be a fully functional forensic clinical simulation space. Penn State Health family and community medicine resident physicians, interdisciplinary students in the Child Maltreatment and Advocacy Study minor and more than 28 registered nurses completing sexual assault nurse examiner education have benefited from training in this simulation environment.”

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