A COMPARISON AMONG HEALTHCARE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH IN ATTITUDES ABOUT LESBIANS AND GAY MEN AND SUPPORT FOR LESBIAN AND GAY HUMAN RIGHTS

The Department of Health and Human Services report, Healthy People 2010 (HP2010), recommends elimination of healthcare disparities for reasons such as sexual orientation, gender, racial or ethnic background, education level, income, disability status, and geographic location. The 2000 Federal Census revealed that same-sex couples live in 99.3 percent of all counties in the United States. Sexual minorities, throughout their lifetime, access our healthcare system and interact with healthcare professionals. Lesbians and gay men experience substantial disparities in health outcomes. Lesbian and gay human rights issues are intricately linked to social, cultural, and political issues in society. HP2010 notes that health professionals' attitudes about sexual orientation may contribute to existing healthcare disparities. Access to unbiased healthcare could be a factor in these disparities, yet little is known about the attitudes of healthcare trainees, who will eventually provide the care for sexual minorities and others. This study explores attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights among first year health care students in the Master of Social Work, School of Medicine, Master of Nursing programs, and School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. This study examines four predictors of attitudes, including academic preparation, personal experiences, political orientation, and frequency of spiritual practice. Social work students scored higher than other healthcare students in academic preparation, personal experience with non-heterosexual orientation, support for lesbian and gay human rights, and diversity training. First year medical and social work students had more positive attitudes than nursing and dental students toward lesbians and gay men. Simultaneous multiple regression analysis revealed political identification, personal experience, and frequent spiritual practices were the strongest predictor variables of personal attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights. When the academic preparation scale score was replaced in the regression analysis with the sexual orientation academic preparation item from that scale, it was a significant predictor of personal attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights