Background:

being updated is an influencial mediator of risk behaviors, but it is not determinant. To know the risk is not enough to put in practice prevetive behaviors since there are others factors that could influence upon sexual behavior, as the risk perception.

Objective:

to determine the perception about the risk of getting and/or transmitting HIV / AIDS, among students from the University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine, 2020, and with a gender perspective.

Methods:

a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach of descriptive exploratory type, with students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile, was carried out in 2020. Theoretical methods were used: analysis-synthesis, inductive-deductive and historical-logical methods; and empirical ones: semi-structured individual interviews. To get the information, narrative content analysis was applied.

Results:

students showed their knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, the mechanisms of transmission, treatment and prevention of it. Most of them refer using barrier methods, although they distinguish the use of it depending on what if it is a casual or stable relationship. In case of stable relationships, the perception of risk seems to be lower, associated with the non-use of condoms for trust and pleasure, among others.

Conclusions:

the theoretical management of the topic is not sufficient for the increase of self-perception risk and preventive behaviors be adopted. Knowing the elements that influence on risk perception is relevant to achieve effective sexual education programs, taking into account sociocultural factors in addition to the communication of information.

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