Effects of internal medicine residency training in AIDS care in Taiwan

Having contact and interacting with HIV/AIDS patients has long been recognized as a means for improving AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes among physicians and hence for increasing their intention to provide AIDS care. To investigate the impact of one-month residency training in an AIDS inpatient unit on internal medicine residents, this quasi-experimental, pre-post, two-group study, conducted from April 2000 to April 2001, used questionnaires. At follow-up, residents who received training in the AIDS unit (experimental group) were significantly more knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, had more positive attitudes and greater intention to care for HIV-infected patients than residents who did not receive this training (control group). Results suggest that a one-month AIDS residency training intervention can effectively enhance residents' HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and intention to care for patients infected with HIV.