The Influence of Pharmaceutical Education Upon the Functions of State Boards of Pharmacy

As we stand assembled here today to pay tribute to the School of Pharmacy of the University of Maryland, upon the occasion of the completion of the first century of its proud history, our minds quite logically go back to 1841 as the point from which to get our bearings and from which to rechart the course of events which have transpired since that day. To really understand the event which we commemorate, and to utilize this understanding as a stimulation to still greater achievement, we must sense the conditions which gave rise to the school in the first instance, and then grasp the meaning of the succession of environments in which the school was progressively placed. In other words, we must put ourselves in the school's shoes, and retrace step by step the long and tortuous journey from 1841 up to now. It will, however, not be a thankless undertaking. We shall find ourselves rewarded not only by the mental stimulation which such a task assures, but we shall learn much, and from this learning shall come a new sense of appreciation of the significance of things past and a truer sense of evaluation of things to come. To some, history may be bunk, but certainly no rational person would dare deal so trivially with the vast and varied experience which presses so closely upon us on this very historic occasion. If we can learn nothing from a consideration of the crowded career of this venerable institution, then experience is a lifeless thing, and the past no more than dead leaves which we need not stir or disturb. In 1841. when the School of Pharmacy of the University of Maryland, then known as the Maryland College of Pharmacy, first set sail upon the adventure which fortunately gives no signs of coming to a close, there were no pharmacy laws, no boards of pharmacy, and thus no standards of education or qualifications of experience demanded of those entering upon the practice of pharmacy. There were drug stores, of course, but they were insignificant and unimposing, and had little about them to impress their value upon the public mind. A good drug store, in those days, had an annual sales volume of $1,500 to $2,500. and this in itself affords a fair picture of their economic plight and professional standing. Pharmacy itself was not fully emancipated from the domination and control of the medical profession of that day. Physicians were both medicos and pharmacists, and many drug stores were operated by physicians as an adjunct to their medical practice. In fact, as late as 1858, according to a report issued by the American Pharmaceutical Association, covering an extensive survey of pharmaceutical conditions, it was stated that the pharmacists of Baltimore were, with some striking exceptions, a rather incompetent group of drug vendors, and that a true sense of professional pride had not yet begun to play much part in the pharmaceutical standards of that time. Drug stores were simply stores, and what competitive advantage the pharmacist had over drug vendors came from the awe and superstition which surrounded his calling, rather than from any protection afforded him by law. Drug stores were opened in response to personal likes and dislikes, and in accordance with personal predilections. One wanted to open a drug store and practice pharmacy, so he forthwith opened a drug store and practiced pharmacy. There were no legal or educational standards, and not the merest semblance of restrictions, limitations, prohibitions, regulations or restraints. It was a calling free and open to all and it was engaged in by all and sundry kinds of people. There is little to indicate that there was any great enthusiasm for the School of Pharmacy when it was first established, and we can well surmise that it was looked upon more or less as a curiosity by the rank and file of pharmacists, who had not the remotest conception of the value of organized education in their field of endeavor. …

Field of study: Education, Medicine