136 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  19 19. 
institutions  so  that  those  selected  for  commissions  would  more 
quickly  be  prepared  to  assume  their  duties  as  officers.  It  was 
strictly  a  war  measure,  and  not  an  attempt  by  the  government  to 
standardize  education.  Any  effect  this  plan  may  have  had  on  the 
problems  of  education  in  any  line  in  peace  times  is  entirely  incidental, 
and  this  matter  received  consideration  only  to  the  extent  that  it  was 
the  aim  of  the  committee  to  disturb  existing  methods  of  education 
as  little  as  was  consistent  with  the  attainment  of  its  aims. 
In  the  case  of  pharmacy  the  fundamental  consideration  was  that 
the  needs  of  the  Army  for  pharmacists  would  be  satisfactorily  met 
through  the  draft.  Although  there  was  no  real  necessity  for  the 
inclusion  of  pharmacy  students  in  S.  A.  T.  C.  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  pharmacists  for  the  Army,  the  Committee,  nevertheless, 
decided  that  a  limited  number  might  wisely  be  accepted  on  the 
basis  that  this  training  would  also  prepare  them  for  service  as 
chemists  and  in  other  useful  capacities.  The  plan  finally  evolved 
was  to  recognize  those  pharmacy  schools  in  institutions  which 
already  had  S.  A.  T.  C.  units,  and  to  limit  the  admission  to  those^ 
students  in  these  schools  who  were  eligible  for  the  collegiate  section. 
This  required  graduation  from  an  approved  four-year  high  school, 
or  an  equivalent  education. 
A  committee  of  representative  educators  in  pharmacy,  chiefly 
from  the  schools  which  would  be  eligible  under  this  plan,  was  con- 
sulted September  29,  1918.  This  committee  was  requested  to  draw 
up  a  sample  course  in  pharmacy.  As  in  the  case  of  all  programs 
for  courses  adopted  by  the  committee,  this  program  in  pharmacy 
was  not  prescribed  but  was  issued  as  an  example  of  what  would  be 
acceptable. 
Yours  very  truly, 
Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Training, 
(Signed)    By  H.  D.  Arnold, 
Lieut -Colonel,  Medical  Corps,  U.  S.  A. 
HDA/MNN 
The  appearance  of  this  official  statement  of  the  position  of  the 
War  Department  concerning  the  Students'  Army  Training  Corps 
units  in  pharmacy  schools  and  the  purpose  that  actuated  the  De- 
partment in  the  establishment  of  these,  is  welcomed  as  a  conclusive 
justification  of  the  editorial  "A  Quasi  Recognition  of  Pharmacy" 
