Description
Introduction: Patients are increasingly taking herbal supplements for a variety of reasons. This has brought into question
doctors knowledge about herbal medicines.
Method: A cross-sectional web-based survey of 84 doctors working within the Department of Medicine at a District
General Hospital was carried out looking at doctors knowledge about herbal medicines.
Results: 53 doctors took part. Of these, the majority were trainees in Medicine (42) 79%. Only (15) 28% routinely
ask patients about herbal medicine use when taking a drug history. Doctors knowledge about herbal Medicines was
poor.
Conclusion: We need to re-examine our current teaching programmes to ensure that education about common
herbal medicines and important sources of information are provided to doctors to improve patient safety.
