Willingness of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) students to be custodians of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM): case study of Kenyatta University, Nairobi

Abstract

Appropriate training on standardization of quality characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices has the potential to pave way for integrative and collaborative healthcare delivery in African health facilities. The purpose of this study was to understand how willing pharmacy students are to taking on the custody of CAM, especially provision of expertise services on traditional medicines. A questionnaire on the willingness of Bachelor of Pharmacy students to be trained and certified as CAM experts in an integrated health system was administered to one hundred and nineteen (119) pharmacy students of Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Ninety-four respondents (78.99 %) were excited to be trained on CAM and become experts on CAM alongside orthodox but not solely on CAM. Majority of the respondents acknowledged the important role of CAM in the nation’s healthcare delivery system but were not ready to be trained solely as such without the commitments of governments for better status. The study revealed that with necessary support from governments and stakeholders, specialists from those desiring to study pharmacy can be developed to focus on safety, purity and efficacy of CAM, especially traditional medicines, to enhance their incorporation into the national healthcare system.