Marseille 2007
| Abstract #390 - Medical Students Attitudes and Beliefs of Mandatory HIV Testing and Disclosure | ||||
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Session: 6.57: Posters A (Poster) on Monday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Julie Aultman - Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, United States |
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| Additional Authors: Dr Nicole Borges, | ||||
| Aim: Our aim is to understand students attitudes and beliefs of mandatory HIV testing and disclosure, and to determine whether HIV and ethics education can help students resolve these personal and professional dilemmas. That is, by helping our future clinicians identify both positive and negative attitudes and beliefs, we believe they will be better equipped to resolve many of the social and ethical problems associated with the stigma of HIV, while improving the overall health of individuals and communities. | ||||
| Method / Issue: 16-20 focus groups at two medical schools in the state of Ohio are interviewed by the investigators of this study. Each focus group contains 8-10 volunteer student-participants. All IRB guidelines and ethical procedures are followed (i.e., informed consent). All student participants are asked a pre-established set of questions regarding mandatory testing and disclosure of HIV status for both patient and health care professional populations. Interviews are conducted for 30-40 minutes and recorded using held-hand audio recorders. All recorded interviews are transcribed and qualitatively evaluated by the project investigators. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Our preliminary data have revealed resistance among medical students with respect to HIV testing and the use of Standard Precautions when treating patients. While 97% of our medical students believed they have a duty to treat, only 58% believed they should be tested for HIV. Though our study will not be completed until May 2007, we believe the preliminary data we have collected thus far reveals a great need to further explore our students attitudes and beliefs regarding HIV testing of patients and themselves, their level of safe (or unsafe) sexual practices, and their views regarding mandatory disclosure of patients and their own possible HIV status. Conflicts between personal freedom and professional obligation are apparent in discussing mandatory HIV testing and disclosure among students and healthcare professionals. | ||||
| Discussion: HIV testing and education is not a new topic within medical education, however it is a topic requiring a deeper exploration given the general difference of attitudes and beliefs we have found among this generation of medical students, and the apparent resistance to HIV testing and disclosure even when their own lives and the lives of their patients may be at stake. | ||||
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