History of the Modern Pharmacy - By: Kathryn Dawson

As long as there have been societies and physicians to treat them there have been specialists whose sole purpose was to prepare and administer medicinal treatments. The earliest healers engaged in what we now call Pharmacognosy, which is the study and application of plants and herbs for healing. Evidence that early man used pharmacognosy to treat illness is indisputable, with archeological discoveries attesting to the fact pre-dating even the development of farming or animal husbandry.

Almost 3,000 years ago Indian healers had compiled a comprehensive guide to the preparation and application of medicines called the Shushruta Samhita. During the same period in ancient Sumer we have evidence of similar practices which exists in the form of clay tablet prescriptions written in cuneiform.

No matter which ancient civilization one examines - be it the Han Dynasty of ancient China, the earliest recorded times of ancient Greece, or the Islamic Golden Age - you can find evidence of organized and skillful application of pharmaceuticals.

Evidence of the earliest pharmacy is harder to find, as cities were destroyed and rebuilt many times over the ages. In the ruins of ancient Ephesus (1000 BCE) above the Aegean Sea in Turkey there still exists a stone carving of a Pharmacy symbol bearing the tell-tale markings of a tripod bearing a pharmacist’s mortar and pestle.

Nearly 1,000 years later both the rulers Japan and Mesopotamia took steps to formalize the management of Pharmacies. In Japan pharmacists were elevated into a feudal class of their own, a class which had great influence in the field of medicine and was ranked above even physicians and acupuncturists.

Across the world in Baghdad the scholars and Caliphs of the Islamic Golden age established state-regulation of pharmacists and pharmacies. Making the first laws and legal licenses for the trade of which there is record.

The first modern pharmacies have their roots in Europe of the 12th century. One pharmacy established in Trier, Germany in 1241 is still in operation today. As a matter of fact numerous pharmacies over 700 years old can be found throughout Europe.

The history of pharmacies in America surely goes back to the earliest days of European settlement, though records show the first drugstore opened by an officially licensed pharmacist dates back to New Orleans, in 1823. Though some argue that an early drugstore, frequented by First Lady Martha Washington in Fredricksburg, Virginia was established during the time of the American Revolution and thusly deserves the honor of being called America’s oldest drugstore.

The modern drugstore varies significantly from its ancient counterparts. While the proprietors of pharmacies of yore were often making numerous medical decisions - diagnosing and treating patients without the consultation of physicians - pharmacists in the modern drugstore are tasked instead with the responsibility of evaluating the appropriateness and managing the dispensation of pharmaceuticals prescribed to patients under a doctor’s care. Among the most important of pharmacist jobs is assuring that the patient has not been prescribed two drugs will will have an adverse interaction. An in-depth study of pharmacology is required to make such evaluations and in all states such positions are highly regulated and require testing before the issuance of a pharmacist’s license.

Far from being just a clerk behind a counter, pharmacists also play a role in disease management and evaluation of test results. In hospitals pharmacists are often in the role of interpreting chemical signatures in complex test results and advising physicians on treatment options as well as making doctors aware of new and possibly more effective drugs.

Many people interested in a career as a pharmacist have found that in recent times it is a quite reliable profession in times of economic hardship. Earnings for professional pharmacists continue to rise while the industry for new and returning workers is quite robust.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson writes articles for Jobs 4 Medical, where medical professionals of all disciplines can recruit or search for job vacancies on the website. Find pharmacist jobs or pharmacy technician jobs in any countries in their constantly refreshed database. There are candidates looking for pharmacist jobs in Dubai.

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