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THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



A BRIEF STATEriENT INTENDED TO ANSWER MOST OF THE QUESTIONS 

 PROPOSED BY THE SECTION ON EDUCATION OF THE AflERICAN 



PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 



By prof, henry h. rusby. 



T HAVE taken the somewhat unusual 

 ■^ course of requesting the President 

 to accord the first place in the order of 

 time to my paper, because it seems to 

 bear naturally upon many ot the ques- 

 tions proposed, and to take note of the 

 only sound basis upon which they can be 

 discussed. I should propose the follow- 

 ing statement : 



Since the United States Pharmacopoeia 

 is the official and authoritative guide to 

 the practice of pharmacy, no degree im- 

 plying a fitness for such practice should 

 be conferred until the student shall have 

 become fitted to understand and employ 

 that work. In other words, a thorough 

 mastery b)^ the undergraduate of the 

 principles and processes embodied in the 

 U. S. P. should be regarded as the pri- 

 mary essential of a pharmaceutical edu- 

 cation. 



No proving or supporting of this 

 proposition is here entered into, because 

 it appears that no exception will be 

 taken to it by any one. I shall, there- 

 fore, merely point out its authoritj^ in de- 

 termining the answers to several of the 

 queries proposed. It answers perfectly 

 questions 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 

 t8, and aids in the solution of several 

 others. 



Question 3. " Can a minimum stand- 

 ard of time of attendance and quality of 

 pharmaceutical education be adopted by 

 American colleges?" The minimum 

 standard of quality should be the rule 

 proposed above. The minimum standard 

 of time must vary according to the facili- 

 ties afforded by the location and equip- 

 ment of the several colleges and the S5'S- 

 tem, methods and qualit}- of the instruc- 



tion given. Those who are deprived of 

 the advantages of drug store training in 

 connection with their college course will 

 of necessit}'^ require from two to three 

 times as long to acquire the same de- 

 gree of abilit}' to conduct a pharmacy 

 as those who do not suffer from this 

 deprivation. Uniformity in time among 

 the different colleges cannot in my opin- 

 ion be attained with propriet3^ 



Question 4. ' ' How can we get the 

 pharm icy laws of the various States more 

 uniform in their requirements?" The 

 pharmacy laws of the several States 

 should be uniform in making conformity 

 to the above standard the test of fitness 

 of candidates for a license.. 



Question 10. "Should graduates in 

 pharmacy be compelled to pass the ex- 

 aminations of Boards of Pharmacy before 

 being registered?" It is indisputable 

 that some schools of pharmacy are not 

 honest in their application of the above 

 standard, even though professing to ap- 

 ply it. Therefore, Boards of Pharmacy 

 should thoroughly and impartially smoke 

 out the graduates of such schools. 



Question 11. ''What principles should 

 guide Boards of Pharmac}^ in framing 

 their examination questions." This ques- 

 tion calls for the same answer as Ques- 

 tion No. 10. 



Question 14. "Should any candidate 

 be permitted to graduate in pharmacy 

 before he is able to apply the tests and 

 assays of the United States Pharmaco- 

 poeia ;" Question 15. " What should be 

 the minimum limit of knowledge in 

 Microscopy before being permitted to 

 graduate;" Question 16. The same, 

 applied to Botany; Question 17. Tiie 



