Pharmacy students' use of and beliefs about traditional healthcare

Health professional students come from many different cultural backgrounds, and may be users of traditional healthcare (also known as ethnomedicine or folk medicine). This study aimed to explore New Zealand pharmacy students' knowledge and beliefs about traditional healthcare, and to examine whether these changed during the course. A questionnaire was administered to students in 2011 and again in 2013. Students were from a wide range of ethnic groups. Their reported use of traditional healthcare increased (from 48% in 2011 to 61% in 2013) and was usually for minor illness or prevention. Non New Zealand European students were more likely to use traditional healthcare. Use of traditional healthcare was relatively common, and after exposure to a biomedical curriculum students seemed to be more, rather than less likely to report using traditional healthcare. Education about traditional healthcare should not be based on the assumption that all healthcare students are unfamiliar with, or non-users of, traditional healthcare.