A survey of attitudes to Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong pharmacy students.
OBJECTIVE
To study the attitudes and personal experiences with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) use in pharmacy students.


METHODS
Prospective cross-sectional study.


METHODS
University School of Pharmacy.


METHODS
Pharmacy students were asked 17 questions according to an anonymous survey questionnaire.


RESULTS
All 91 students (46% males) participated in the survey. The attitude toward TCM use was positive in 40%, neutral in 59% and negative in only 1%. On scales from 0 to 10, the mean (SD) scores for the adequacy of the current curriculum in TCM training and state of TCM knowledge were 3.2 (2.0) and 3.6 (1.6), respectively. Of the 35 participants who had used TCM in the past year, nearly half did so without any TCM practitioner consultation. Seventy-four percent reported that they had not been told of any side effects of TCM. When comparing the third year with first or second year students, there was no significant difference between any of these findings.


CONCLUSIONS
The training in TCM within this 3-year pharmacy curriculum appears inadequate. Most students are not aware of any possible side effects in TCM. The attitude and practice do not appear to vary significantly between successive year of pharmacy students.
Hon
E K L
EK
Department of Paediatrics, 6/F, Clinical Sciences Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China. b103892@cuhk.edu.hk
Lee
K
K
Tse
H M
HM
Lam
L N
LN
Tam
K C
KC
Chu
K M
KM
Lee
V
V
Lau
C
C
Leung
T F
TF
D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires