United States: 1851 to 1900

Derived from the Greek φάρμακον (phármakon meaning “drug”), the term pharmacy constitutes both the professional practice that links health sciences with the chemical sciences, and the physical establishment utilized for the purposes of collecting, compounding, preparing, preserving, dispensing, and standardizing drugs and medications. The history of pharmacy practice reveals a distinct relationship between this emerging allied health profession and the evolution of therapeutics and various phases and manifestations of treatment modalities that continues today. For centuries, the only way an individual could enter a health care profession was through apprenticeship. Under this system, an aspiring pharmacist, referred to at the time as an apothecary (Latin for “pharmacist”), would learn by observing and performing medication-related activities, often side-by-side under the tutelage of the master craftsman. One ...