title: First-year medical students' willingness to participate in peer physical examination.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is little research on student attitudes toward participating in peer physical examination (PPE).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study explored first-year medical students' attitudes toward PPE and their willingness to participate in PPE before they had experience with PPE as part of their course.
  
  
  METHODS
  First-year medical students (n = 119) rated their willingness to participate in PPE for 15 body regions, with male or female peers, and when examining or being examined by others. Attitudes toward participating in PPE were also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low-sensitivity examinations (e.g., hands, head) in PPE were generally accepted by male and female students. Significant variation in willingness across different body regions was, however, evident for male and female students depending on the type of examination and their examination partner's gender. Students generally held positive attitudes toward participating in PPE as part of the course. Moreover, students with more positive attitudes provided higher ratings of willingness to participate in PPE for all examination types.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest high levels of willingness to participate in PPE for low-sensitivity examinations of the kind employed in university teaching contexts. Nonetheless, gender effects appear more complex than previously described, and for some regions of the body, there are subtle preferences for particular examination types, in particular performing examinations, rather than being examined.
authors.affiliation: Medical Education Unit, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. kjreid@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Katharine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Meshak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kgakololo
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Agnes E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Dodds
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012577:Schools, Medical; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires