Aim Information on medical students knowledge about violence against women (VAW) is inadequate in Turkey although VAW is quite common (39.5%). This study aimed to investigate experiences, professional knowledge and the opinions of third phase (TPS) and last phase (LPS) students of medical faculties concerning VAW.

Method In this study, a questionnaire was administered to 543 (67.7%) TPS and 620 (68.3%) LPS.

Results Males constituted 50.5% of TPS and 50.6% of LPS while average age was 21.21.3 and 24.31.4, respectively. Childhood violence exposure was 27.1% among TPS, 50.2% among LPS while 23.1% of TPS and 29.2% of LPS witnessed domestic violence sometime. Male students experienced more violence (p=0.04 for TPS; p=0.021 for LPS). There is no formal VAW training in study sites, and 35.5% LPS declared they received some training on VAW. Theoretical and practical knowledge on VAW is lacking for both phases. The most agreed perceptions on some faces of VAW of TPS and LPS are: woman's honour is important for me (76.8%, 70.0%), violence committed man are generally from low socioeconomic groups (59.3%, 50.6%), I would like to have firearm at home (43.8%, 42.2%), man who restored his honour could be sometimes right (25.7%, 25.8%).

Conclusion In order to provide effective support to victims by physician, there is a need to add structured curriculum on VAW in undergraduate training.