Abstract:
Background: Medical academic curriculum, national growth strategic orientations and health care policy considerations towards the maximum utilization of all available health care systems should consider traditional medicines of which 80% of the Ethiopian population uses. This consideration towards traditional medicines should be supported and stand on what really the public perceive about Traditional Medicines (TMs). Given this background, the need for studies which emphasize on the public perception towards traditional is quite visible. In the light of this rational, this study aimed at assessing the perceptions of medical students in St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical Collage regarding traditional medicines.
Method: The researcher conducted a qualitative study between December and November 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Using purposive sampling methods, the researcher conducted three focus group discussions (FGDs) with 30 student participants. The qualitative data were analyzed manually by the researcher as after conceptual and descriptive coding
Result: A total of three FGDs composed of 30 student participants were conducted. The study identified three major thematic categories that relate to the students’ perception towards traditional medicines: general awareness and attitude towards TMs, factors affecting people’s perception and tendency to use TMs, and perceptions on the future of Traditional medicine in Ethiopia.
Conclusion: This study has found that the perceptions of medical students at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical Collage regarding traditional medicine and its role in the health care system is limited. This limited awareness of the students to TMs is related to students’ general knowledge and awareness on TMs is not supported by education. Rather, as it is exposed by the findings of the study, students’ perception on traditional medicine users and practitioners is highly influenced by personal memories, limited understandings and biased perceptions towards TMs and traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs).
...................................... Thesis available at ACIPH Library