Knowledge of colorectal cancer and attitude to occult blood testing among recent medical graduates in New South Wales.

The extent to which new information on colorectal cancer (C.C.) is being transmitted to medical undergraduates was assessed in a repeated survey of new interns' knowledge of and attitudes on C.C. A probability sample of 214 graduates of the two Sydney medical schools was drawn as they commenced their internships in 1978. A comparable sample of 186 was drawn in 1980. Interns in each sub-sample completed a questionnaire of 54 pre-coded items of knowledge of C.C. epidemiology, early diagnosis, and followup, and on their attitudes towards C.C. On most topics knowledge was not well developed, and 1980 graduates were not significantly better informed than those of 1978. Almost three-quarters of 1980 interns intend using faecal occult blood testing.