How comfortable do first-year medical students expect to be when taking sexual histories? NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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How comfortable do first-year medical students expect to be when taking sexual histories?

Med Educ. 1988 Sep;22(5):418-25. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/89082378
Vollmer SA; Wells KB; UCLA School of Medicine.

Abstract: The authors assessed the expected degree of comfort among first-year students at two California medical schools in taking a sexual history from four types of patients: heterosexual men; heterosexual women; homosexual (men and women combined); and an AIDS patient. Data were from questionnaires administered at two California medical schools (response rate = 87%). Students expected to be significantly more comfortable with heterosexual patients who were the same sex as the student. Students who had previously taken a sexual history anticipated relatively more comfort with heterosexual patients. The lowest expected comfort was for the AIDS patient. Older students expected to be more comfortable with the AIDS patient, independent of the student's personal sexual experience. Students with a homosexual friend anticipated more comfort with both the AIDS patient and the homosexual patients.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/DIAGNOSIS Attitude of Health Personnel California Education, Medical, Undergraduate Female Human Male *Medical History Taking Sex Behavior Sex Disorders/*DIAGNOSIS Sex Factors Students, Medical/*PSYCHOLOGY Support, Non-U.S. Gov't JOURNAL ARTICLE

KWDacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome/diagnosisattitudeofhealthpersonnelcaliforniaeducation,medical,undergraduatefemalehumanmaleKWDmedicalhistorytakingsexbehaviorsexdisorders/KWDdiagnosissexfactorsstudents,medical/KWDpsychologysupport,non-uKWDsKWDgov'tjournalarticle
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Copyright © 1989 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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