Differences between first and fourth year medical students in their attitudes toward primary care

A 29 item "attitudes toward primary care" scale was administered ed to 392 first year (2 classes) and 183 fourth year medical students. The responses of the groups were compared using Chi Square analysis with a Bonferroni adjustment for multiple analyses (alpha =.05/29 =.0017). Statistically significant differences in the responses were found for 11 of the 29 items. Post hoc analysis indicated that the two first year classes did nor differ in their responses. Items for which a significant difference was found tended to cluster in three general al-eas. Fourth year medical students were mol-e likely to indicate that they were interested in treating the patients' medical problems than their emotional or psychological problems than were first year students. Senior students were less interested in health maintenance and prevention than were first year students. The role of consultants and physician extenders was viewed differently by the two groups. The attitude scale is being administered longitudinally to matriculants in an attempt to further study the relationship between specific experiences and attitude change.