Medical students' attitudes and behaviour towards sexual health interviewing: short- and long-term evaluation of designated workshops

Abstract

Workshops aimed at promoting fourth-year medical students’ attitudes towards and subsequent behaviour in talking to patients about sexual health are reported on. Improvements in attitudes are reported following the workshops in 1999–2000 with students being more likely to see the relevance of sexual health enquiry, feeling more confident and competent about broaching the subject and expressing greater intention to do so. One year on, comparison of the intervention and non-intervention group for attendance at the workshop showed no difference in the proportion who had subsequently asked patients questions about sex. The proportion of students asking patients rose from 47% in the fourth year to 92% by the fifth year. Issues of long-term evaluation and the importance of the informal relative to the formal curriculum are discussed.