Description:

In this webinar Dr. Kate Sugarman will present on the collaborative healing relationship between torture rehabilitation staff and primary care physicians and the value of integrating psychological and medical care into a torture survivor’s treatment plan.  Dr. Sugarman and Laurel Smith-Raut, MSW, a social worker at ASTT, will present on their unique approach to this model.

Objectives:

After attending this webinar participants will be able to:

1. Describe one medical approach to treating  survivors with comorbid conditions
2. Recognize the importance of documenting a survivor’s comprehensive medical history
3. Identify an approach to integrating continued medical care, including preventive care, into a holistic treatment plan
4. Explain how a torture rehabilitation team can help to prepare survivors for medical care, especially concerning treatment for sexual trauma

 
Presenters:

Kate Sugarman, MD

Dr. Kate Sugarman is a family practice physician working in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Sugarman received a B.A. cum laude in general studies from Harvard College and earned an M.D. from Jefferson Medical College.  She has a Diplomate from the National Board of Medical Examiners and from the American Board of Family Practice.  In the past, Dr. Sugarman served as a family doctor at the Lighthouse AIDS Clinic in Rehovot, Israel, where a majority of the patients were from Africa.  Most recently, she worked at the Community of Hope clinic in Washington, D.C. which serves patients regardless of their ability to pay.  Dr. Sugarman’s experience treating torture survivors has spanned 10 years; she works in cooperation with Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) International, Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, and the Program for Survivors of Torture & Severe Trauma at Northern Virginia Family Services. Dr. Sugarman’s experience in diagnosing and treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has focused on minority and immigrant patients, many of whom suffer from physical and mental disorders. 

Laurel Smith-Raut, LGSW

Laurel Smith-Raut is a case manager with the Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Severe Trauma (ASTT) in Baltimore, MD.  She attended the University of Maryland School of Social Work where she received her Masters in 2007. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Nepal, Laurel has used her cross-cultural skills as a refugee case manager intern with the International Rescue Committee and a community organizer at the Southeast Community Development Corporation. She has been working with torture survivors at Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma for the past five years.