Abstract

Background: The Military International HIV Training Program (MIHTP) was established in 2002 to address the overwhelming needs of international military personnel concerning HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine shortterm knowledge transfer in trainees attending the MIHTP by comparing data collected from pretraining and post-training knowledge assessments.

Methods: We used identical 40-question multiple choice pre-training and post-training assessments to determine the short-term transfer of knowledge of international HIV military physicians attending the MIHTP.

Results: Findings revealed a statistically significant increase in short-term transfer of knowledge of HIV prevention, care, and treatment in a population of international military physicians, nurses, and auxiliary medical personnel from 47 developing countries (n=136). Trainees had significantly higher post-test scores (67.9%) compared with pre-test scores (50.5%, p<0.001). Trainees showed a similar level of HIV knowledge as assessed by pre-training evaluations (F=1.38).

Conclusion: We found significant increases in acquired individual knowledge after a 4-week HIV training program. Results of this study are important as many developing countries rely heavily on international training programs to aid in the development of health care systems in an ever-changing infrastructure.

Keywords: HIV, training program, international militaries, prevention, public health, epidemiology.

Graphical Abstract