Development and evaluation of a sex education program for medical students

This paper describes the development of a sex education program for medical students at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. A description is given on the method used to achieve the objectives of giving knowledge of sexual behavior, modifying attitudes which block understanding of sexuality, and developing skills for the evaluation and management of sexual problems. The importance of using discussion groups assisted by skilled group facilitators to reach these objectives is discussed. The Sex Knowledge and Attitude Test, by which pretest and posttest differences in knowledge and attitude were assessed, and the results obtained are discussed.