MINNEAPOLIS, June 3, 2008—The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians has presented its Research of the Year award to Therese Zink, M.D., a family physician at the Fairview Zumbrota clinic.

The award recognizes contributions to the development of family medicine research in Minnesota or nationally. 

The award celebrates her work bringing the topic of family violence out into the open. 

In an interview in the Rochester Post-Bulletin, Zink said that victims of violence need a safe environment to discuss what's happening to them. It is  her belief that physicians should be creating the environment in which to have these difficult conversations.

Zink has interviewed about 1,000 patients in Minnesota and Ohio as part of her research. Her goal has been to learn how doctors can better identify patients who are victims of domestic violence, and work with them to manage health issues that arise from it.

People living in the shadow of violence often have chronic health problems such as headaches, backaches, anxiety and depression, she said. The role of the physician must be to teach patients that abuse undermines their health, as well as the health of others in the home.