Indications of medical plants: what do medical students in Germany know? A cross-sectional study

Background Patients use phytotherapy in addition to cancer therapy. Aiming to equip students with the knowledge necessary for a holistic treatment approach, the (German) national competence-based catalogue of educational objectives in medicine advises to include phytotherapy as part of the curriculum. Here, we evaluate if medical students know the official indication of herbal products as stated by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for treating oral and abdominal discomfort. Methods In an online survey, students were asked to write down indications they associated with 25 plants used for treating either oral or abdominal discomfort. Students’ indications were then sorted according to symptom complexes (oral discomfort, abdominal discomfort, skin care, others) and compared with the official indications stated by the BfArM. Results Of 168 participating students, 113 wrote down indications for 22 of the 25 plants surveyed. 70.80% of the students knew the correct indication for Matricaria recutita, 41.59% for Salvia officinalis, 37.17% for Foeniculum vulgare Mill. and 36.28% for Mentha piperita. Those were the highest rates of correct answers. Looking at symptom complexes (e.g., oral/ abdominal discomfort) instead of single symptoms, ≥ 10% of the students stated an indication that fell into the same symptom complex as the BfArM’s indication for 10 out of 25 plants surveyed. The most well-known plants and indications were Matricaria recutita, Salvia officinalis and Mentha x piperita. Conclusion Only a small minority of participating students know the official indications for specific phytotherapeutic drugs. Our study demonstrates that phytotherapy needs to be incorporated into the medical teaching curriculum.