DO THE CLINICAL YEARS CHANGE MEDICAL-STUDENTS ATTITUDES TO OLD-PEOPLE

Students at the Christchurch School of Medicine have previously been s hown to demonstrate a significant improvement in attitudes and knowled ge about old people after a 5-week attachment in their first clinical year (fourth year of their medical course). The original cohort were r etested between 1 and 3 years after graduation. A modified version of the Rosencranz-McNevin Semantic Differential Scale was used to measure general attitudes to old age and a Likert scale to measure attitudes to medical care and knowledge. Attitudes measured by the Rosencranz-Mc Nevin Scale showed no change between the completion of the fourth-year attachment and graduation. The Likert scale showed no change in knowl edge but the attitude score showed a worsening (P < 0.001). Knowledge and attitudes of graduates who had completed a house office attachment in health care of the elderly were better than those who had not (kno wledge P<0.01, attitude P<0.06).