Knowledge and Attitudes of Pharmacy Students Regarding Traditional Medicine

Traditional/Complementary Medicine (T/CM) is offered as an elective course in the third semester in the undergraduate Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours programme at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The objective of this study was to assess the perceived knowledge of and attitudes toward T/CM and T/CM course in the curriculum by the pharmacy students. A total of 160 students from the first to fourth years of the pharmacy programme were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. In general, over 60% of students have positive knowledge and attitudes on the general knowledge related to T/CM, but some are uncertain on some issues related to the effectiveness and safety of T/CM. A majority of students agreed that the T/CM course is offered in the pharmacy curriculum, but on average only 40% of students agreed that the course is offered as a core course. A large number of students who have attended this course agreed that this course had provided them with knowledge and practical benefit to them in the future. However, various reactions were obtained from the students who did not attend the course due to lack of exposure to T/CM. In conclusion, the T/CM course is suitably offered in the pharmacy curriculum in order to enhance their knowledge on the T/CM issues and to help them apply such knowledge in their pharmacy practice.