Incorporation Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine In An Undergraduate Pharmacy Curriculum

Abstract

Despite the increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) worldwide, little is known about the factors associated with the interest in receiving CAM education among pharmacy under-graduate students in University of Malaya, Malaysia.The study aimed to describe pharmacy students’ interest for CAM education and determine factors, which predicted interest in receiving CAM education.A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all undergraduate pharmacy students in University of Malaya using a structured questionnaire and face-to-face interview. A logistic regression analysis was used to predict factors associated with the likelihood that students would report their interest in receiving CAM education. About 80% of the total 250 undergraduate pharmacy students wanted CAM to be incorporated into the pharmacy curriculum. Three factors predictive of an interest to receive CAM education were students year of study, those who previously sought CAM information, and those who indicated that CAM should not be restricted to CAM practitioners. As future healthcare professionals, the incorporation of CAM education may provide a chance for students to have accurate and impartial information on CAM. Further research into the content and focus of CAM education is necessary to meet the educational needs of the future pharmacists.