Introducing HIV/AIDS to South African health sciences students

Abstract

Given the burden of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, there is a need to introduce students to the issues health professionals face about the disease. We developed an introductory peer-led workshop on HIV/AIDS for first year students covering a range of biomedical and social issues. To evaluate the workshops, volunteer students were randomly allocated to participate in one of the workshops or not. At follow-up, students who participated in the workshops showed positive changes in their attitudes and skills regarding HIV. They were also more likely to feel empathy towards HIV-infected people and be more comfortable with the prospect of working with HIV-infected patients, compared to controls. This programme represents a platform for introducing a ‘golden thread’ of HIV/AIDS into health sciences curricula in countries profoundly affected by the epidemic.

Notes

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Notes on contributors

ATHOL KENT is a visiting consultant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town, with a special interest in undergraduate learning.

LANDON MYER is a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, and is interested in behavioural and infectious diseases epidemiology.

ALAN J. FLISHER is Professor and Head of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Director of the Adolescent Health Research Institute at the University of Cape Town, and has published widely on adolescent mental health and risk behaviour.

CATHERINE MATHEWS is a researcher in the Health Systems Research Unit at the South African Medical Research Council, based in School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, whose research includes adolescent reproductive health.

CARL LOMBARD is Director of the Biostatistics Unit at the South African Medical Research Council, who is interested in the design and analysis of randomised controlled trials.