Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention Session in Changing Student Attitudes and Beliefs About HIV: Impact of an Interview With an HIV-infected Physician

In this study, 170 preclinical students completed a 12-statement baseline survey designed to measure their attitudes and beliefs about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) 4 weeks before interviewing an HIV-infected physician. Eight weeks later, 152 students completed a follow-up survey to see if any changes or shifts occurred on any of their initial responses. Pre- and post-session survey responses of 88 students who had attended the intervention 4 weeks before and 64 who had not were compared. The attendees had statistically significant shifts in their responses on 7 of 12 survey items. The nonattendees had a small but significant ship on only one survey item. This pilot intervention appears to be effective in not only persistently changing some students’ attitudes and beliefs about HIV and AIDS, but also in instilling empathic and positive professional attitudes toward treating persons with HIV and AIDS.