Health Profession Students’ Awareness, Knowledge, and Confidence Regarding Preexposure Prophylaxis: Results of a National, Multidisciplinary Survey

Background Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective, pharmacologic method of HIV prevention. Despite its safety and efficacy, PrEP prescription remains low in those patients who are at highest risk for HIV infection. One possible reason for this may be the lack of inclusion of PrEP and HIV prevention discussions within the curricula of health professions education. Methods An online survey was administered to a cross-sectional sample of future prescribers (osteopathic/allopathic medical and physician assistant students), future nurses, and future pharmacists (n = 2085) in the United States between January and July 2019 to assess and compare awareness of PrEP, PrEP education, PrEP knowledge, and confidence in 2 areas related to PrEP. Results We show that, overall, awareness of PrEP is high among future health care providers (81.6%), with the future pharmacists reporting the greatest awareness (92.2%; P
Source: Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Category: Sexual Medicine Tags: Original Study Source Type: research