MEDICAL-STUDENTS IN A TIME OF HIV - EDUCATION AND THE DUTY TO TREAT

This article concerns medical education about the ethics of profession al duties and treatment of HIV-infected patients. The issue at hand is not whether medical students have a duty to treat HIV-infected patien ts, since it is a matter of consensus that they do. Medical schools ha ve reasserted that risks are inherent in medicine, and that medical sc hool admission should be based on the willingness to accept some risks , in addition to intelligence and personal skills. Those who wish to a void risks are free to enter other professions. While it is imperative to assert a duty to treat, this requires thoughtful explanation to ma tch the understandably high anxiety levels of many medical students.