Publication:

The influence of geographical origin of medical students on their opinions about the value of medicinal plants in cancer treatment

Background During medical study in university students should learn about both traditional-based medicine and evidence-based medicine in order to tackle different clinical aspects of practice. This study aimed to get to know about medical students' understanding about usage of different types of plants based medicine in treatment of various forms of cancer.

Methods Using an online survey “Google forms” information was collected among Grodno State Medical University (GrSMU) 100 medical students from Asian origin (India and Sri Lanka) and 100 Belarusian medical students participated.

Results Students from Asian origin (India) found out to be more deeply related to traditional-based medicine while students from Belarus were less likely to trust this form of medicine.

Conclusions In conclusion, we've found out that heterogeneity of knowledge about plant-based medicine in the cure of oncological diseases between medical students of different regions. Medical students from Asia (especially from India) are more engaged with the use of plants-based medicine for treatment of oncological disease.