BACKGROUND: In the recent years, there appeared to be a rise of herbal products in the market. Thus, it becomes imperative for health practitioners to become knowledgeable on this aspect of complementary medicine. However, data on familiarity with and actual utilization of the 10 DOH-endorsed herbal medicine plants by the health practitioners is lacking.
OBJECTIVE: This study was done in order to determine the knowledge and utilization of the 10 DOH-endorsed herbal medicinal plants among the resident physician trainees of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital (USTH).
METHODS: A total of 143 randomly selected trainees from different specialties and year levels were included in this study. A one-time interaction with the residents was done, during which, they were asked to answer a 5-page face to face survey questionnaire.
RESULTS: The study revealed that majority of the respondents is aware of the 10-DOH endorsed herbal medicinal plants. However, most of them perceive the use of herbal medicines to be only " a little effective". Prescribers are prompted mainly by its affordability. The residents can fairly identify the herbal medicinal plants and are adept with the indication for use of these plants. In spite of this, majority of the residents are not familiar with the proper preparation methods.
CONCLUSION: Overall, the respondents appear to be more aware with certain herbal medicinal plants such as ampalaya, bawang, lagundi and sambong but obviously lack familiarity with other plants including ulasimang bato, yerba buena and niyog-niyogan.