Willingness to treat HIV-positive patients at different stages of medical education and experience

The willingness of physicians to provide care to HIV-positive patients has been linked to a number of attitudinal factors, but little is known concern ing the impact of premedical, medical, and residency training on these fact ors. The purpose of this study is to elicit responses to the same series of questions concerning HIV and its treatment from respondents at different s tages of training, to detect trends in attitudes and to measure the impact of those attitudes on willingness to provide care for HIV/AIDS patients. St udy data come from a cross-sectional survey (n = 249) of respondents across the training continuum, from premedical students to faculty physicians, us ing a self-administered questionnaire at a single medical school. The respo nse rate was 59.6%. The study showed significant decreases in personal fear and misgivings concerning HIV, coupled with a substantial decrease in the perceived need for testing of non-high-risk individuals, as respondents gai ned additional education and training. Overall, the intent to treat HIV did not change significantly by training level, but multivariate analyses show ed that while the initially strong influence of attitudes toward AIDS and i ts attendant risks diminishes, comfort relative to being around homosexuals per se continues to exert an impact on the intent to treat. Appropriate us e of protective measures when providing care becomes far more common once i ndividuals enter their clinical training years. The impact of medical educa tion through its entire continuum therefore shows a positive impact on atti tudes toward HIV, despite the absence of a significant trend in respondents ' stated intent to treat. However, negative attitudes toward homosexuals co ntinue to exert a negative influence on intent to treat that endures into t he clinical training years.