Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of family physicians and family medicine specialty students in samsun province about traditional and complementary medicine (GETAT)

Aim: In recent years, interest in Traditional and Complementary Medicine applications has increased worldwide and in our country. This study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of family physicians and family medicine residency students in Samsun province about TCM. Materials And Methods: This research is a cross-sectional type of research. Between January 2023 and May 2023, 230 physicians, including family physicians working in FHCs affiliated with the provincial health directorate in Samsun and family medicine speciality students working at Omu Faculty of Medicine and Samsun Training and Research Hospital, participated in the study. Survey questions were prepared for physicians by reviewing the literature and compiling from previous theses and articles on this subject. The first 7 questions are aimed at learning sociodemographic data, and there are 45 questions in total. There are 38 questions aiming to evaluate family physicians' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards TCM, and 12 of them are Likert-type questions with 5 options. A total of 570 physicians were identified, including 430 family physicians working in the Samsun provincial health directorate's subordinates and 140 family medicine residency students working in OMU Faculty of Medicine and Samsun EAH hospital. 50% likelihood ratio, 5% Type 1 error, 95% confidence interval by using the Openepi program. 230 people will be included in the study. Statistical analyses were carried out with the help of the Spss version 25.0 package program. Results: Most of the participants, 57%, are female physicians. Physicians with an average age of under 35 are in the majority, with 56%. 61.3% n=141 of the physicians know GETAT methods, and 84.3% n=194 think that GETAT methods are helpful. It was observed that those who had self-medication had cupping treatment most frequently, 35.4%. Physicians most frequently recommend acupuncture to their patients 75.4%. The most common application they apply to their patients is leech application, 37.8%. Only some of the physicians, 3.9%, have a GETAT certificate. Physicians stated that GETAT methods are most commonly preferred in the treatment of pain 87.8%. All of the physicians support the idea that the purpose of GETAT vi applications is to support modern medical methods. Physicians stated that they learned about GETAT from doctors at a rate of 60.4%. Conclusion: In this study, which examines the level of knowledge and opinion of primary care physicians about GETAT, most physicians agree that GETAT methods are beneficial. As a result of our research, although family physicians find GETAT methods useful, it is seen that most of them are people who have not received GETAT training and have not practised but who want to practice and receive training. This situation will change when education opportunities increase, and the number of practising physicians increases. With the increase of evidence-based scientific studies in this field, GETAT's awareness and correct use of the methods will also become widespread