A Problem-Based Course in Human Sexuality

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Abstract
A medical curriculum based on the exploration of clinical problems rather than traditional discipline content has provided an appropriate context for a course on human sexuality. The problem-based approach has ensured that students examine physical, psychological, social, religious and ethical aspects of the sexual difficulties with which doctors are commonly confronted. The course offers the opportunity for students to develop their capacity for effective communication. Assessments are also problem-based both in written format and in a role-played consultation. Explicit objectives direct student learning and tutors guide discussion in group tutorials with a minimum of formal teaching. Because the course precedes studies in the area of reproductive medicine, its aim is to equip students to communicate comfortably about sexual problems when opportunities arise later in the course. The effects of the course on the students was assessed using the Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test of Leif & Reid (1972). The major effects of the course as reflected in this test were the reduction in all students of the acceptance of sex myths and, in the case of younger students, an increased positive attitude on the autoeroticism measure. Sexual knowledge did not change significantly as a result of the course, a fact partly explained by the high initial scores in this area and by the courses concentration on affective aspects of learning rather than on cognitive or motor skills.