Columbia University College of Pharmacy - Apothekan Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 11 text:

Ui ill? Retailing is a science and an art in itself. Since a great percentage of our graduates enter the retail field, it is essential that they know how to successfully operate a modern pharmacy from the business as well as the professional view? point. Jmm — • • • Merchandising is also a very vital aspect, for the art of displaying and advertising may deter- mine the degree of success of a business. Meth- ods of purchasing stock in approximately cor- rect amounts should be taught. Proper pricing of items and fair trade regu- lations regarding prices should also be included n the economics course. The student should have an insight into the factors which make for the proper pricing of a prescription. • • • IL ' p to date dispensing pharmacy should be taught under the direct supervision of a qualified pharmacist, who is in continual contact with modern day procedures. Those prescriptions compounded in the dispensing laboratory should be assigned to better familiarize students with actual present day Rx ' s. Special conference periods should be ar- ranged during which competent men engaged in the various fields of pharmacy — retail, whole- sale and manufacturing, present their ideas as to how their particular job is most effectively per- formed. Graduating students in the future would greatly benefit by the establishment of a place- ment bureau in which practicing alumni desir- ing full-time pharmacists could apply, and through which graduates might obtain worthy jobs. Only by studying a modern up-to-date curriculum, with emphasis on pharmacologic subjects can the pharmacist hope to retain the respect which is his due and continue to be one of the leaders in the field of public health. okwtt

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Qo 7U Qidute . HK«rt » I WE, THE CLASS OF FEBRUARY 1949, dedicate this yearbook to the betterment of the pharmacy curriculum as a means of improving the caliber of the pharmacist, and with it a con- sequent raising of the standards of pharmacy. The scope of knowledge of a technical and practical nature now required of the pharmacist has increased tremendously in recent years, and we therefore feel that the course of study should be altered to include a two-year pre-pharmacy course of a cultural nature followed by an in- tensive four-year pharmacy course. • • • The four-year course should be broadened to feature several important aspects not included in the present curriculum. • • • We believe that the suggestions which follow would serve to better equip the future members of the profession and furnish a foundation for the construction of a superior curriculum. ■ ; The present course in Materia Medica in- cludes all official drugs and drug preparations. Since the number is so great, and since the knowledge required of each is so overwhelming, the course should be extended to two years in order to effectively present the material. The additional time will allow for discussing the new developments in therapeutics. This will go a long way toward giving the future pharmacist a deeper insight into his work. Proprietaries in modern pharmacy comprise a large percentage of the prescription work. We therefore feel that a one-year course in proprie- taries should be included, so that a student being employed in a pharmacy for the first time will be familiar with the more widely-used items. Details on new preparations should be brought to the attention of the student so that he can giye reliable information to the physician.

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DEAN BALLARD L T ndoubtedly extensions of the education prerequisite for licensure have had and will have some effect on wider public acceptance of Phar- macy as a profession, but thus far this has not been as great as could be desired. Something else aside from education appears to be involved in this matter of professional status and it is this something else I bring to your attention in this message. Before going further let us see what distinguishes the professional person from the business man or the mechanic. The word ' profession ' is defined in the dictionaries as the occupation, if not commercial, mechani- cal, agricultural or the like, to which one devotes himself and cites the professions of theology, medicine and law as examples. Conformity to the standards of conduct, aims and qualities characteristic of the particular profession are mentioned as attributes of the professional person. While Pharmacy in the store field may not entirely correspond with the above definition of a profession, Pharmacists can readily qualify as professional persons under the second if they are so minded. We in Pharmacy recognize that the store field which the majority of graduates enter, has both professional and business aspects and also that either of these may be emphasized according to the preference of the in- dividual or force of circumstances. The trend toward Professional Phar- macies is commendable and if all Pharmacies were of this type, the claim of Pharmacists to professional status in the eyes of the public would be greatly strengthened. But under our system of free enterprise this surest means of impressing the public appears to be remote. However, this does not preclude the possibility of the Pharmacist establishing himself as a professional person through conformity to the standards of his profession.