THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



corporation, such a combination of func- 

 tions is — to say the least — in rather bad 

 taste. So it is entirely possible to 

 imagine that a man selected as "member 

 of the institute" may attract the atten- 

 tion of large commercial establishments 

 who might consider the presence of this 

 person on their stafif as a distinct asset. 

 This might be so, and even so it might 

 be a distinct advantage for the person in 

 question to accept the new position, but 

 in this event his privileges as "member 

 of the institute'' should automatically 

 terminate and that for the simple rea- 

 son that membership in the organization 

 is limited to practicing prescription phar- 

 macists who^ own their own establish- 

 ments and to such independent prescrip- 

 tionists only. 



Now that the six requirements for 

 membership have been stated, an entirely 

 proper question to ask is who shall en- 

 force these requirements and how ? This 

 leads us to the question of organizing 

 the Institute. 



. We are all aware of the propriety of 

 the private club, which essentially con- 

 sists of a self-organized group of men 

 or of women of similar tastes and of 

 similar ideals. A small number of these 

 gather together and organize and then 

 invite other desirables to join with them. 

 This is exactly the method that should 

 be used in organizing the American In- 

 stitute of Prescriptionists. 



Let some twenty to fifty prescription 

 druggists, whom we recognize as leaders 

 in retail pharmacy as a profession and 

 those preferably consisting of representa- 

 tives from every section of this country 

 of ours, get together and organize, and 

 let them, and them only, invite others 

 possessing the qualifications stated above 

 to join them, and thus start the Institute. 



It should of course be operated under 

 national charter and if possible the title, 

 "Member of the Institute of Prescrip- 

 tionists" (M. I. P.), should be legally 

 protected from imitation. While the 

 membership should be unlimited as to 

 numbers, most rigid adherence to the 

 conditions of membership should be ob- 

 served. On first thought, it would seem 

 that no one would want so trying a posi- 

 tion as that of member of the committee 

 on admissions, but the work of the 

 American Conference of Pharmaceutical 

 Faculties clearly shows that severe con- 

 ditions, strictly adhered to, have the 

 efi^ect of keeping out undesirables and 

 that with little bad feeling. 



As to the short period of membership, 

 it is plain that a one-year term is not pos- 

 sible without reorganization each year, 

 hence it will be well to place duration 

 of membership at three years, thus leav- 

 ing two-thirds of the members at all 

 times in active service. 



And after all is said and done, what 

 will be the use of the Institute to its 

 members ? 



If properly conducted it will be the 

 honor roll of retail pharmacy in Amer- 

 ica, and a druggist will be as proud to 

 belong to it as a French scientist is to 

 be invited to belong to the Academie 

 Francaise. 



To be a member of the Institute, to 

 have the privilege of attaching to one's 

 name the initials "M. I. P." will carry 

 the prestige which unfortunately neither 

 the registered pharmacist certificate nor 

 any pharmacy college degree can possess. 



The registered pharmacist certificate 

 merely gives the right to run a drug 

 business anyway — within the law — that 

 its holder chooses. The college degree is 

 of little value unless the college behind 



