Objective: To determine whether homophobia existed in a sample of the second-year medical school class before beginning a course on Human Sexuality.
Method: We administered a questionnaire to a sample of the second-year class at an introductory lecture to the course on Human Sexuality. This questionnaire asked twelve questions regarding attitudes about homosexuality, and incorporated questions from other surveys used previously.
Results: The data indicated significant homophobia. One-quarter of the students reported believing homosexuality is immoral and dangerous to the institution of the family, and expressed aversion to socializing with homosexuals. Nine percent believed homosexuality to be a mental disorder and 14% felt more homophobia since AIDS.
Conclusions: Medical student homophobia, if left unchallenged, will hinder care provided to homosexual patients. Physician homophobia may disallow a healthy doctor-patient relationship and may cause a decrease in patients' ability to disclose sensitive issues.