Abstract
The effects of a course in human sexuality for a class of second-year male medical students are described. The course consists of two interacting components: a 2-day seminar and a 2-week didactic presentation. The purpose of the seminar is to develop humanistic understanding and tolerance of one's own and others' sexuality. The didactic presentation focuses on factual information. A variety of evaluation instruments were used, and students were tested precourse, postcourse, and at the end of 6 and 12 months. Results show a significant pre-post increase in tolerance in attitude and amount of knowledge. There appears to be some moderation in level of attitude and knowledge gain at the 6-months point, and significant increases from the precourse level to the 12-months point persist. Participants almost uniformly report personal benefit, with a significant number describing greater satisfaction in their own sexual behavior.
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These studies and the Program in Human Sexuality are made possible through grants from the Commonwealth Fund, the Bush Foundation, the Playboy Foundation, American Lutheran Church Division of Social Service, United Methodist Church Board of Christian Social Concerns, and the University of Minnesota Medical School. The evaluation and statistical analyses reported herein were supported in part by NIH grant No. L. D08 ME 00109.
Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Judith Garrard, Box 393 Mayo, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455.
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Garrard, J., Vaitkus, A., Held, J. et al. Follow-up effects of a medical school course in human sexuality. Arch Sex Behav 5, 331–340 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542086
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542086