Attitude change concerning right to refuse treatment: the impact of experience

Forty-three medical students completed questionnaires about their attitudes toward the right to refuse treatment at the beginning and end of their psychiatric clerkship, during which time their clinical experience included exposure to involuntary psychiatric treatment. The students had a more favorable view of involuntary treatment after the clerkship; the change in attitudes was statistically significant. The authors hypothesize that the medical students' increased willingness to use seclusion and involuntary neuroleptic medication was due to exposure to agitated violent patients as well as experience with the beneficial effects of neuroleptic medication.