Pharmacy students’ experiences with herbals and their perceived importance of the topic in pharmacy education

ObjectivesThe study objectives were to (1) assess students’ experiences with herbals and their perceptions of the importance of herbals in professional education and pharmacy practice and (2) determine if experiences and perceptions differed based on students’ demographics and background characteristics.DesignThis study employed an electronic survey sent to 500 pharmacy students enrolled in one college of pharmacy.ResultsA total of 158 surveys were analyzed (31.6% response rate) using descriptive statistics. Students were interested (mean = 3.78 (out of five) ± 1.0) in knowing more about herbal supplements. Students believed that herbals should be taught in pharmacy school (4.45 ± 0.7) and that pharmacists should be able to advise patients who use herbals (4.5 ± 0.8). Students’ perceptions differed based on their demographics and background characteristics.ConclusionsAs future practitioners, pharmacy students acknowledged the need to learn more about herbal supplements and recognized that pharmacists should know how to advise patients who use herbals in order to more effectively care for this patient population.