Preliminary Evaluation of the teaching of Homeopathy in undergraduate Pharmacy Courses in Brazilian states Paraná and Santa Catarina

Abstract

Introduction: Homeopathy and other integrative and complementary health practices were included in the Brazilian public health system (SUS) under a formal policy established by the Health Ministry in 2006 [1]. This led to an increase in the demand of homeopathic assistance, not accompanied by a corresponding increase in human and material resources [2,3,4]. On the other hand, an evaluation of market demands carried out by the Education Ministry (MEC) in 2000 led to a reform of the syllable of undergraduate pharmacy courses, which thus included formal teaching of homeopathy [2].
 
 Aims: To make a preliminary quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the teaching of homeopathy in undergraduate pharmacy courses in Brazilian States Paraná and Santa Catarina as to the establishment of a formal discipline, academic credits and the qualification of professors.
 
 Methods: The MEC Internet database was surveyed looking for universities with undergraduate courses in pharmacy and their study programs were screened online as to the inclusion of formal teaching of homeopathy. Deans and professors were sent a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the model developed by the Brazilian Association of Homeopathic Physicians (ABFH) [5]. Questions sought to assess the formal institutionalization of the teaching of homeopathy (categories, credits) and the qualification of professors. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Uniandrade (Process No. 316/2009).
 
 Results: 25 schools in Paraná (PR) and 12 in Santa Catarina (SC) have undergraduate courses of pharmacy. Four schools in PR were excluded from this study because they do not exhibit data online and no questionnaires were returned. From the remaining 21, 20 (95.2%) include homeopathy in their study program and 6 (28.6%) returned questionnaires. In SC, 1 school exhibits no data and 1 school does not include homeopathy in its study program, the remainder 10 (83.3%) do and 4 returned questionnaires. As a whole, from the initial sample, 30 schools include homeopathy and one does not; 10 questionnaires were returned. The overall credits of pharmacy courses measured in hours are 3,760-5,157 (~4,458) in PR and 3,096-4,968 (~4,217) in SC. The discipline specifically devoted to homeopathy is named in different ways, the most frequent term used is “homeopathic pharmacotechnics” (PR= 8, SC= 6). Its corresponding credits are 36-136 (~72.4) in PR and 32-72 (~57.6) in SC. In PR in 1 school (5%) and in SC in 2 schools (20%) homeopathy is optional, in all other cases is mandatory. All professors (n= 10) teaching homeopathy are pharmacists, 5 hold a MA and 3 a PhD degree, 3 are board certified; 7 have specific raining in homeopathy, whereas 3 do not.
 
 Conclusions: Homeopathy has been included in almost all pharmacy undergraduate courses in PR and SC. In most schools, credits measured as hours is adequate (minimum required= 60h). However, a wider availability of courses and teachers with better qualifications are still needed.