Awareness on Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC)among Interns and postgraduates of a Medical Collegein Bengaluru City

<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Studies describing the awareness on Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) among medical graduates or doctors are not available India and hence the study was taken up with the following</p> <p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To assess the awareness about ICTC, its functions and services among medical graduates and importance of counseling before and after HIV testing among medical graduates.</p> <p><strong>Materials and Methods: </strong>A descriptive study among 101 interns and post graduates from various disciplines including pre-clinical, paraclinical and clinical specialties of a medical college having a stand-alone ICTC and situated in Bengaluru city was conducted using a pre tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Study subjects were asked about awareness about ICTC, its functions, services and importance of pre-test and post-test counseling. Medical graduates who have completed final year of MBBS were included as study subjects and those not willing to consent for the study were excluded from the study.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>All the study subjects had heard of ICTC but only 37.62% were aware of where the nearest ICTC was located.69.30% were aware of the services provided at an ICTC and only 63.36% knew about the tests conducted at an ICTC. Majority(90.09%) of the doctors were sure that the confidentiality of the test results will be maintained but only 37.62% knew what aspects should be covered in Pre and Post-test counseling.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Awareness on the key components of ICTC was not satisfactory among the subjects.</p>