S. Radecki et al., Willingness to treat HIV-positive patients at different stages of medical education and experience, AIDS PAT CA, 13(7), 1999, pp. 403-414
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.