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Results suggest that medical students showed small differences in their attitudes toward homeless people following clerkships in Psychiatry but not in Emergency Medicine. Regarding resident and faculty results, significant differences between specialties were noted, with Psychiatry residents and faculty exhibiting more favorable attitudes toward homeless persons than residents and faculty in Emergency Medicine. Given that medical student competencies should be addressing the broader social issues of homelessness, medical schools need to first understand the attitudes of medical students to such issues, and then develop curricula to overcome inaccurate or stigmatizing beliefs.

students can gain basic knowledge and increased confidence in working with patients for promoting behavioral change, even with a brief session, taught by nonexperts in motivational interviewing theory.