Assessment of HIV/AIDS information among preclinical and clinical medical students

Background: This study investigated the basic and transmitted information of medical students towards HIV/AIDS in clinical and preclinical courses, as well as the sources they usually use to get information. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was carried out on 220 medical students in preclinical and clinical course, using a stratified random sampling method in 2015-2016. The study instrument was extracted from a WHO questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the present participants was 22.31+2.97 years. Most of them were female 130 (65.7%) and 154 (77.4%) were single. There is no statistically significant difference in basic and transmitted information among preclinical and clinical students (22.11+1.66 vs 22.08+1.70, p value=0.91). The most of the students reported that books (85.85%) were their main source of getting information about HIV/AIDS, followed by friendship organizations (32.82%) and television (29.29%). Most students reported they need more treatment information (59.59%), as well as information on prevention (42.42%) and modes of transmission (39.89%). Conclusion: The present study showed that medical students have some knowledge about HIV/AIDS, but there are some considerable misconceptions in their basic and transmitted knowledge that require more attention to revise the HIV educational curricula.