The old Northwest territory and pharmaceutical education / [Edward Kremers].

  • Kremers, Edward, 1865-1941.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The old Northwest territory and pharmaceutical education / [Edward Kremers]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Year after year these subjects were discussed without results for the simple reason that the lecturer’s fees were dependent on the number of students who matriculated—hence no questions were asked—and that laboratory courses were too expensive to be insisted upon. The Conference resulted in utter failure and before the end of a decade it had died a natural death. However, before this event occurred something else had taken place. The University of Michigan had appeared in the pharmaceutical educa¬ tional field, much to the consternation of the older colleges. Had they declared their independence of medicine in 1821 only to meet another enemy in the form of a state university? One must read Mr. Taylor’s address as President of the American Pharmaceutical Association as well as the discussions of the first conference to realize how hitter was the resentment at this intruder. The question may well be asked why this resentment was felt. The older colleges had welcomed new rival colleges, why not a state university? The answer to this question is twofold: 1. The colleges represented pharmaceutical home rule; and 2. The educational ideal for which the University of Michigan stood differed from that based on apprenticeship sponsored by the colleges. Fundamentally, the opposition to Michigan was one of home rule. The colleges had taken up the problem of the education of their appren¬ tices. Even if lack of endowment had prevented them from carrying out their ideals, what could boards of regents and faculties not con¬ nected with pharmacy know about pharmaceutical education? It was for the calling itself to decide what was to he the education of its future representatives. While this attitude is readily understandable even today, the drug¬ gists of that period did not realize how far behind they had lagged in their educational methods. Above all they did not realize that the old apprenticeship system was doomed if for no other reason than that the average drug store afforded little or no educational background for the training of apprentices. Hence, when the University of Michigan not only stepped in to offer laboratory instruction but also ignored drug store experience both for admission and graduation, and furthermore demanded high school graduation as a prerequisite for admission, the old line colleges,