OBJECTIVES

: Iranian traditional medicine (IRTM) has been used for centuries to cure patients. Todays, there is traditional medicine department in medical schools in Iran which try to use ancient’s science beside modern medicine. But not all physicians tend to prescribe IRTM. The aim of this study is to find the reasons of insistence on not adopting and prescribing IRTM by some physicians in health care system.

METHODS

: A focus group of physicians (general practitioner and specialist) (n=2), pharmacists (Pharm.D, clinical pharmacist and PhD in pharmacognosy) (n=3), traditional medicine specialist (n=2), patients under treatment with IRTM (n=2), and policy makers (n=3) were conducted. By thematic analysis the main reasons of resistance to prescribe and accept IRTM were identified.

RESULTS

: 23 reasons were found and then aggregated in to 9 main areas. These reasons are; usage of IRTM for treatment of new disease, no databases for IRTM and drug interaction, no definition for IRTM in healthcare system, lack of belief to IRTM effectiveness, not having a specific dosage form and lack of transparency, lack of common understanding between IRTM and modern medicine, not marketing for IRTM, lack of training on complementary medicine, believe in backwardness.

CONCLUSIONS

: this study demonstrates why some physicians prefer modern medicine rather than IRTM and highlights opportunities for corrective action to create desire in physicians to use IRTM beside modern medicine as complementary medicine.