A questionnaire assessing attitudes toward psychosocial cancer care (the Cancer Opinionnaire) was constructed. Factor analysis revealed five factors: outcome expectations; candor; interest in treating cancer; psychosocial concerns: role of the physician; and psychosocial concerns: importance to the patient. Reliabilities ranged from 0.68 to 0.82. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that second-year students, who had been exposed to a required first-year course stressing biopsychosocial concerns of medical care, expressed more positive attitudes than did entering first-year students. Additionally, female medical students expressed more positive attitudes than did male students. Addressing biopsychosocial concerns in the beginning of medical education may help establish a more open and fertile ground upon which later training will be received.
Cuncer 58:801-806, 1986.
N INCREASING AMOUNT Of attention has been de-
A voted in recent years to the study of medical students' attitudes toward cancer and cancer care. Although the evidence is still far from conclusive, it appears from this research that medical students, especially at the beginning of their training, view cancer and cancer patients negatively. Cassileth and Egan' maintain that beginning students tend to be pessimistic about cancer, expecting all patients to be hopeless, under stress, and without personal strength. Others have found that medical students evaluate cancer patients more negatively than they do other patients.24 These negative views are not inconsistent with the beliefs held by society in general, that cancer is a socially unacceptable and dirty disease which will ultimately lead to pain and death.5
In light of these negative attitudes, medical educators have begun to focus on the impact of educational programs on
Studies have identified certain as-From