title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. atholkent@mweb.co.za
authors.forename: Athol
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Landon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Myer
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Flisher
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lombard
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004517:Education, Professional / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D010379:Peer Group; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013019:South Africa