PHM 105 (Orientation to Pharmacy) History PDF

# PHM 105 (ORIENTATION TO PHARMACY) ## HISTORY OF PHARMACY **DR. ERNEST OBESE** DEPT. OF PHARMACOTHERAPEUTICS & PHARMACY PRACTICE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST ### HISTORY OF PHARMACY Although people have been using medicinal substances to treat themsel...

# PHM 105 (ORIENTATION TO PHARMACY) ## HISTORY OF PHARMACY **DR. ERNEST OBESE** DEPT. OF PHARMACOTHERAPEUTICS & PHARMACY PRACTICE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST ### HISTORY OF PHARMACY Although people have been using medicinal substances to treat themselves for as far back as there have been people, the pharmacy profession has more recent origins. Nevertheless, its roots can be found over 4000 years ago. ### PHARMACY ROOTS The pharmacy profession can be traced back at least as far as the Sumerian population, living in modern-day Iraq. From around 4000 BC, they used medicinal plants such as licorice, mustard, myrrh, and opium. Some separate people worked to prepare medicines, as a separate role from diagnosis and treatment which were carried out by medics. These precursors to pharmacists also combined their role with that of a priest. The Sumerians wrote the earliest surviving prescriptions from at least 2700 B.C. - nearly 5000 years ago. The Ancient Egyptians had specific preparers of medicine, known as Pastophors. Pharmacy was viewed as a high-status branch of medicine, and again, like the Sumerians, these pharmacists were also priests who worked and practised in the temples. From surviving papyrus scrolls, notably the Ebers Papyrus which dates from 1500 BC, we know that the Egyptians made and used infusions, ointments, lozenges, suppositories, lotions, enemas, and pills. The Ebers Papyrus includes 875 prescriptions and 700 drugs. In ancient Greece, according to Edward Kremers and Glenn Sonnedecker, "before, during, and after the time of Hippocrates, there was a group of experts in medicinal plants. Diocles of Carystus (4th century BC) was probably the most important representative of these. He is considered to be the source for all Greek pharmacotherapeutic treatises between the time of Theophrastus and Dioscorides." From 60 and 78 AD, the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides wrote a five-volume book, *De Materia Medica*, covering over 600 plants and coining the term materia medica. It formed the basis for many medieval texts and was built upon by many Middle Eastern scientists during the Islamic Golden Age. The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic), dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty and was attributed to the mythical Shennong. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the Mawangdui, sealed in 168 BC. Meanwhile, in China in about the same era (2000 BC), a man called Shen Nung wrote the first Pen Tsao, or native herbal, which contained descriptions of 365 plant-based drugs. Stalls and shops selling medicinal goods existed around 1900 B.C. in the town of Sippara on the Euphrates River. However, the earliest recorded shop dealing with sales of medicines in London was opened in 1345. There is a stone sign for a pharmacy with a tripod, a mortar, and a pestle opposite one for a doctor in the Arcadian Way in Ephesus, Turkey. ### THE APOTHECARIES - Over the 16th and 17th centuries the art of the apothecary was developing rapidly in Britain as well as on the continent, and with this development there came a desire for the apothecaries or dispensers to form a Guild of their own. - In 1617, King James I of England granted the Apothecaries a royal charter which separated them from the Grocers. Naturally, the Grocers tried to resist, but the King stood firm as he saw the grocers as merchants having no professional skill, whilst the practice of the apothecary was an art and a mystery (Skill & Knowledge). These very same words were in use in apprenticeship indentures less than 100 years ago. - The defining moment, after almost 200 years of argument, came with the passing of the *Apothecaries Act* of 1815. Before this, many apothecaries practised medicine, but they weren't supposed to charge for their advice, only for the drugs they supplied. The physicians weren't supposed to dispense drugs, but many did, and they even brought lawsuits against apothecaries who exceeded their powers. Surgeons could only prescribe remedies for external ailments and not "physic", and some of them were also dispensed. The outcome of the new *Apothecaries Act* was a clearer definition of the two streams of practice involving medicine and pharmacy. ### THE EVOLUTION OF PHARMACY AND THE APOTHECARIES IN ENGLAND The 1815 Act enabled apothecaries who took a specified course of training with the *Worshipful Society of Apothecaries* to be licensed as general practitioners with the post-nominals L.S.A., and these Licentiates practised in London and the provinces. From 1815 onwards, it was illegal to use the title apothecary without qualifying as a licentiate. The establishment of the *General Medical Council* in 1858 and the growth in the University training courses for medical students in the later 19th century reduced the significance of the Society of Apothecaries in the training of general practitioners. Today the *General Practitioner* is still really the equivalent of an apothecary, and the *Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London* is an examining and licensing body for doctors. So, despite the name, the *Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London* was at the very heart of the professional gap between medical practitioners and dispensing chemists. ### DISPENSER - Doctors, and pharmacists employed non-professionally trained dispensers in institutions such as hospitals, asylums, workhouses, prisons and barracks, and. They were trained assistants who compounded prescriptions under supervision. From 1815 onwards, the Society of Apothecaries offered an assistants' examination qualifying candidates to compound and dispense drugs under the supervision of an apothecary, pharmacist, or doctor. - Since the founding of the *National Health Service* in Britain in 1948, trained dispensers have continued to play an important role in dispensing. They still work in pharmacies and hospitals under the supervision of pharmacists (and in doctor's dispensaries under the supervision of dispensing doctors). They are now known as pharmacy technicians, and most undertake vocational courses as part of their training. ### CHEMIST (CHYMIST) - Although the term chemist is now often used interchangeably with that of a pharmacist, references to chemists in historical documents sometimes refer to those involved with the study of the science of pure chemistry rather than pharmacy. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries the distinctions between alchemy and medicinal chemistry were somewhat blurred, but by the mid-19th century, 'pure' scientific chemists had their own Royal Society of Chemistry. The Society was formed in 1841. - The word "Chymist" suggests its origins are Greek, but it is generally accepted that *Chemist* took over from *Chymist* as the established spelling around 1790. *Chemist and Druggist* was a term first used to describe both chemical and drug merchants and practitioners of the emerging profession of pharmacy in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It is often used in trade directories and census returns. Under the 1868 *Pharmacy Act*, the terms chemist and druggist were used by the *Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain* to denote those who had passed its minor examination, thus meeting the minimum requirement to register as a pharmacist. The use of the title chemist and druggist became legally restricted to registered pharmacists only from 1868 onwards. - Commercial chemical and drug merchants not involved with the dispensing, or the sale of scheduled poisons were not required to register with the Society and continued to trade after 1868. Legally they could no longer use the title chemist and druggist. The title **master druggist** (as in the trade terms master builder, master baker, etc.), was occasionally used by both qualified and unqualified chemists and druggists. - Even then, some apothecaries chose to be traders like chemists and druggists, whilst others turned more to the practice of medicine. - It was the Apothecaries though, who had the higher public profile and so the Chemists and Druggists set about trying to gain wider public recognition of their value to the nation's health service. - They realised that many of their numbers lacked proper qualifications and that no organisation could effectively protect their established interests. This is what led Jacob Bell and his colleagues in 1842 to set up the *Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain* and ultimately achieve the passing of the law of the first *Pharmacy Act* in that country in 1852. ### PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMIST - The term 'pharmacy' was in widespread use in Europe, with various spellings, from the late classical period. 'Pharmaceutical' was used in England by the 17th century and the Oxford Dictionary cites a reference to 'good pharmaceutical, botanic and chemical institutions' made in 1648. More common usage of the term 'pharmaceutical chemist', however, dates from the 18th century, often referring to advocates of the French school of chemical-based therapeutics. By the mid-19th century, when it was adopted by the new *Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain*, the term 'pharmaceutical chemist' was being more widely applied to those interested in organic chemistry and the skilled compounding of drugs of all descriptions. ### SOME KEY DATES IN PHARMACY HISTORY | Year | Event | | -----| ----- | | 1240 AD | Pharmacy and Medicine are officially separated. King Frederick II, a powerful European ruler, issued an edict for the first time in Europe completely separating the professions of physicians and pharmacists, and issuing professional regulations for both. | | 1820 | The alkaloid quinine was first extracted from the bark of cinchona trees by two French chemists, Pierre Joseph Pelletier, and Joseph Biename Caventou. | | 1820 | Creation of the *United States Pharmacopeia* (USP), which offers a system of standards to be used as a reference guide for professional pharmacists. | | 1874 | Diamorphine or Heroin was first synthesised from morphine. | | 1883 | The first edition of *The Extra Pharmacopoeia* was published, edited by William Martindale and Dr. Wynn Westcott. | | 1885 | Louis Pasteur develops the rabies vaccine. | | 1886 | Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local Atlanta pharmacist, creates a syrup that is sold at nearby Jacob's Pharmacy. The syrup is an instant hit and, when combined with carbonated water, sells for five cents a glass. This drink is the original Coca-Cola. | | 1892 | German pharmacist Felix Hoffmann successfully synthesizes salicylic acid, or aspirin, for commercial sale, which becomes the most widely used drug in modern times. | | 1899 | Aspirin was launched by a German company. | | 1910 | Salvarsan, the first 'magic bullet' drug, effective against syphilis was discovered by Paul Ehrlich and Dr. Sahachiro Hata. | | 1915 | Medicine stamp duty was doubled as a wartime fundraiser. | | 1917 | The *Venereal Disease Act* prohibited the advertising of medicines for VD and selling mixtures containing scheduled substances. It introduced the concept of 'prescription-only' medicines. | | 1922 | The *Dangerous Drugs Act* regulated the import and sale of potential 'drugs of addiction', including the derivatives of opium, cocaine, and cannabis so widely used in proprietary remedies. | | 1928 | Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming. | | 1938 | The *Food and Drugs Act* prohibited the adulteration and mislabelling of drugs. | | 1939 | The *Cancer Act* restricted the advertisement of products claiming to treat cancer. | | 1940 | Under the *Finance (No. 2) Act* purchase tax was imposed on a range of goods including most drugs and medicines. | | 1941 | The *Pharmacy and Medicines Act* repealed the old medicine stamp duty. It forbade the general advertisement of products claiming to treat several specific illnesses including Bright's disease, cataract epilepsy, and TB, or to be effective in procuring an abortion. For the first time, manufacturers were required to list the active ingredients of products on their packaging. | | 1948 | The *National Health Service* made prescription medicine available to all. Until the introduction, in the 1950s, and a subsequent hefty increase in prescription charges, proprietary medicines were no longer seen as a cheap alternative to seeing the doctor. | | 1948 | Raymond P. Ahlquist published his seminal work which divided adrenoceptors into α- and β-adrenoceptor subtypes and this allowed for a better understanding of drug mechanisms of action. | | 1955 | Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh develops an injectable polio vaccine. | | 1961 | Ibuprofen was first synthesised by a team at the *Boots Pure Drug Company* in December. | | 1964 | Introduction of Adverse Drug Reaction 'yellow card' scheme in response to the thalidomide tragedy of 1961. | | 1982 | Merck Sharp & Dohme introduces the first Hepatitis B vaccine. | | 1984 | FDA approves the drug *Retrovir* (zidovudine or AZT), the first medication proven to help treat people infected with HIV/AIDS. | | 2001 | A switch in drug development and research from the traditional way of drug discovery that was isolating molecules from plants or animals or creating new molecules and seeing if they could be useful in the treatment of illnesses in humans, to pharmacogenomics, which is the study and knowledge of how genes respond to drugs. | | 2015 | President Obama launches the “*Precision Medicine Initiative*” proposing customization of healthcare, with medical decisions, practices, and/or products being tailored to the individual patient. The project aims to collect genetic and health data from one million subjects. | # THE PRACTICE OF PHARMACY ## EDUCATION The history of pharmacy education has closely followed that of medical education. As the training of the physician underwent changes from the apprenticeship system to formal educational courses, so did the training of the pharmacist. The first college of pharmacy was founded in the United States in 1821 and is now known as the *Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science*. Other institutes and colleges were established soon after in the United States, Great Britain, and continental Europe. Colleges of pharmacy as independent organizations or as schools of universities now operate in most developed countries of the world. The course of instruction leading to a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy extends at least five years. The first and frequently the second year of training, embracing general education subjects, are often provided by a school of arts and sciences. Many institutions also offer graduate courses in pharmacy and cognate sciences leading to the degrees of master of science and doctor of philosophy in pharmacy, pharmacology, or related disciplines. These advanced courses are intended especially for those who are preparing for careers in research, manufacturing, or teaching in the field of pharmacy. Since the treatment of the sick with drugs encompasses a wide field of knowledge in the biological and physical sciences, an understanding of these sciences is necessary for adequate pharmaceutical training. The basic five-year curriculum in the colleges of pharmacy of the United States, for example, embraces physics, chemistry, biology, bacteriology, physiology, pharmacology, and many other specialized courses. As the pharmacist is engaged in business as well as a profession, special training is provided in merchandising, accounting, computer techniques, and pharmaceutical jurisprudence. The *Doctor of Pharmacy* degree is relatively new and a relatively new requirement for pharmacists in the world. Before 2006, pharmacists in the United States could be licensed after completing a five-year accredited bachelor's degree program in pharmacy after passing board exams and getting a license to practice pharmacy. The first school to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy degree was the *University of Southern California* in 1950. It was optional, but several other Doctor of Pharmacy programs were developed across the United States. In 1992, the *American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy* (AACP) required that all the pharmacy schools that they accredited offer a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree was completely replaced by the Doctor of Pharmacy degree in the United States of America in 2006. ## LICENSING AND REGULATION To practice pharmacy in those countries in which a license is required, an applicant must be qualified by graduation from a recognized college of pharmacy, meet specific requirements for experience, and pass an examination conducted by a board of pharmacy appointed by the government. Pharmacy laws generally include the regulations for the practice of pharmacy, the sale of poisons, the dispensing of narcotics, and the labeling and sale of dangerous drugs. The pharmacist sells and dispenses drugs within the provisions of the food and drug laws of the country in which he practices. These laws recognize the national pharmacopoeia (which defines products used in medicine, their purity, dosages, and other pertinent data) as the standard for drugs. The *World Health Organization* of the *United Nations* began publishing *the Pharmacopoeia Internationalis* in the early 1950s. Its purpose is to standardize drugs internationally and to supply standards, strengths, and nomenclature for those countries that have no national pharmacopoeia. ## ORGANISATIONS There are numerous national and international organizations for pharmacists. The *Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain*, established in 1841, is typical of pharmaceutical organizations. In the United States the *American Pharmaceutical Association*, established in 1852, is a society that embraces all pharmaceutical interests. Among the international societies is the *Fédération Internationale Pharmaceutique*, founded in 1910 and supported by some 50 national societies, for the advancement of the professional and scientific interests of pharmacy on a worldwide basis. The *Pan American Pharmaceutical and Biochemical Federation* includes pharmaceutical societies in various countries in the Western Hemisphere. In Ghana, the pharmacy profession is regulated by the *Pharmacy Council* and the national pharmacists' organisation is the *Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana* whose motto is "Amicus Humani Generis" - (Friends of the Human Race). ## HISTORY OF PHARMACY EDUCATION IN GHANA - As far back as 1897, the government of Ghana (then Gold Coast) decided to establish a school to train personnel to dispense Doctors' prescriptions. The early organization of the training is not clear, but in about 1923, Sergeant Hart, a commander in the *Royal Army Medical Corps*, was recruited to train local personnel in the act of dispensing at the only hospital in Accra, then situated at the site now occupied by the high court buildings. The entrance qualification was the then-standard 7, with 2 years duration and maximum enrolment of three (3). - In 1927 when the *Korle-Bu hospital* was commissioned, the school was transferred there to allow for expansion. The demand for medical and dispensing services compelled the government to institute a training scheme for medical assistants - People with a fair knowledge of both nursing and dispensing, to diagnose, prescribe, and compound drugs for simple ailments for patients in small hospitals and clinics which could not be staffed with resident medical officers. The entrance qualification was the *Cambridge School Certificate A, pass in Chemistry and Biology*. The first 9 months were devoted to basic nursing, both medical and surgical on the wards, followed by a course of instruction in dispensing for 2.5 years. The subjects taught included the material medica, toxicology, therapeutics, and simple calculations in pharmaceutics. This period was then followed by a brief period of training for 3-6 months at the medical stores to learn stock control, and at the surgical theatre, to acquire the techniques of administering general anaesthetics. The trainees qualified with a dispensing certificate. - In 1944, with the appointment of Mr. Eric Allman, a chemist and druggist, to the school, nursing was immediately divorced from dispensing to allow more time for training in pharmacy. The course content was upgraded and the title "trainee dispenser" changed to "trainee pharmacist". It was a 3-year course and successful candidates passed out with a certificate of competency. In later years when some of the trained dispensers owned their private drug stores, the apprenticeship training scheme emerged. A would-be dispenser registers as an apprentice of a qualified dispenser and understudied him in the shop for a period. On completion of his apprenticeship and passing the government druggist qualifying examination, he was certified as competent to be a master of his own. About 1945, Mr. Allman instituted night classes in both theory and practical Pharmacy for outsiders to become qualified pharmacists. - When the *Kumasi College of Technology*, later UST and now *KNUST* was established in 1952, the dispensing school, still under the leadership of Mr. Allman, was transferred from Accra to Kumasi, to become one of the schools of the new institution. This was to enable it to expand its course content as well as its student intake. The *Pharmacy and Poisons Board Certificate* was introduced in 1953. The duration of the course was 4 years after GCE, O-level. 2 years for GCE, A-level in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and 2 years for Pharmacy course. The final batch of students for the pharmacy and poisons board certificate completed their studies in 1963. The certificate programme offered was changed to a degree when the *Kumasi College of Technology* was transformed into a full-fledged University and renamed *Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology* (KNUST) by an Act of Parliament on 22nd August 1961. - In 1961, when the KCT became UST, the school of pharmacy which was training diplomats, became a faculty, under the deanship of Mr. Eric Allman, and geared its course of instruction to the degree level. The first batch of 7 undergraduate pharmacists was admitted to the 3-year degree studies in October 1961 and graduated in June 1964. The BPharm part one was taken at the end of the first year, in physiology, anatomy, and pharmacognosy. With the introduction of new techniques and new areas of study necessary for preparing the would-be pharmacists to cope with current trends in pharmaceutical practice, it soon became obvious that the 3-year course of study was woefully inadequate. Already the final year student was doing the maximum number of school hours per week; excluding the extra hours per week he must necessarily take out of his leisure hours to be able to complete project assignments. - To avoid breaking down the physical and mental health of the students, the new 4-year honours course was mounted in 1969. The first 3 years were supposed to prepare the students for basic pharmacy. In the 4th year, the student is then taken through an advanced instrumentation course, biopharmaceutics, pharmacology, and pharmaceutics. He is assigned a practical problem of the project, and he submits the report of the project work as it is today. The 4th year course is, therefore, deliberately designed not only to offer the student basic industrial pharmaceutical training but also his first experience in research and presentation of research reports. - After graduation, a pharmacist must do a 1-year internship, sit and pass the professional qualifying examinations, and is registered by the *Pharmacy Council* upon payment of the right fees; before he can hold himself out as such. He must also continue to be always of good standing. - In 1968, the MOH in collaboration with the University reintroduced a 2-year diploma course ostensibly to augment the annual output of graduate pharmacists. The successful diplomats were designated pharmacy technologists, but the programme ended around 1974. - The certificate programme offered was changed to a degree when the *Kumasi College of Technology* was transformed into a full-fledged University and renamed *Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology* (KNUST) by an Act of Parliament on 22nd August 1961. - The *Faculty of Pharmacy* in KNUST offered a *Bachelor of Pharmacy* (BPharm) programme till 2012 when it changed to a *Doctor of Pharmacy* programme to conform to the global trend in Pharmacy education. Other accredited institutions offering the *Pharmacy* programme are as follows: - *Central University College* (BPharm): 2008-2017 - *Central University College* (PharmD): 2018-date - *University of Ghana* (BPharm): 2011-2017 - *University of Ghana* (PharmD): 2018-date - *Entrance University College*: 2017-date - *University of Development Studies*: 2017-date - *University of Health and Allied Sciences*: 2017-date - *University of Cape Coast*: 2018-date # HISTORY OF PHARMACY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST - The idea to implement the establishment of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Cape Coast was conceived in 2012 and efforts were made to recruit lecturers with a pharmacy background into various existing departments at UCC. By 2014, four (4) lecturers with a pharmacy background were at posts in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, (then under the School of Biological Sciences but now located within the School of Allied Health Sciences) and the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medical Sciences. - Later, a Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) made up of Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, Prof. Martins Ekor, Dr. Elvis Ofori Ameyaw, Dr. Ernest Obese, Dr. Robert Peter Biney, and Dr. Joseph Kizzie Hayford (then Deputy Director of University Health Services) was tasked to develop a PharmD curriculum for the College of Health and Allied Sciences, UCC. The first draft of the curriculum was ready by 2015 and a stakeholders' consultative meeting with representatives from the *Pharmacy Council of Ghana*, *Industrial Pharmacists Association*, *Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana* (PSGH), and other lecturers at the University was organized by the CDC at Samrit Hotel in Cape Coast. - The first set of documents consisting of the Proposal to establish the UCC School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SoPPS) and the UCC PharmD curriculum was presented to UCC Academic Board in 2017. In May 2018, the *Governing Council* of the University of Cape Coast approved the proposal to establish SoPPS to train pharmacists. The UCC Council mandated an *Implementation Committee* (IC) headed by the then Provost of CoHAS, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong to implement the establishment of SoPPS. The other members of the IC included Prof. David Kofi Essuman (Dean, School of Physical Sciences), Prof. Edward Marfo Yiadom (Dean, School of Business), Dr. Joseph Tawiah Turkson (Director of Pharmacy at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital), and Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi, (CEO of Danadams Pharmaceuticals) and the first Faculty Officer (FO) for SoPPS, Mrs. Rebecca Asiedu Owusu as Secretary. - Between 2018 and 2019, the School secured the relevant accreditations and approvals from The *National Council for Tertiary Education* (NCTE), the *National Accreditation Board* (NAB), and the *Pharmacy Council* to train Doctor of Pharmacy students at the University of Cape Coast. - In preparation for its maiden students, Prof. David Darko Obiri from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, *Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology*, Kumasi was appointed as the first Dean of SoPPS. He was assisted with the administrative running of the School by the Faculty Officer and a Senior Administrative Assistant, Ms. Habiba Osmanu. After the demise of Prof. Obiri, Prof. Elvis Ofori Ameyaw was appointed the Dean of the School. - On 28th September 2019, the University of Cape Coast matriculated fifty-three (53) premier PharmD students comprising 25 males and 28 females. ### The current Management of the School are: | Name | Position | | ------------------------------ | -------- | | Prof. Elvis Ofori Ameyaw: | Dean | | Dr. Ernest Obese: | Vice-Dean | | Mrs. Esther Bema-Nimo: | Faculty Officer | | Dr. Robert Peter Biney: | Head, Dept. of Pharmacotherapeutics & Pharmacy Practice | | Dr. Kwesi Prah Thomford: | Head, Dept. of Pharmacognosy & Herbal Medicine | | Dr. Isaac Tabiri Henneh: | Head, Dept. Of Pharmaceutical Microbiology | | Dr. Esther Eshun Oppong: | Head, Dept. of Pharmaceutics | | Dr. Isaac Yaw Attah: | Head, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry | | Dr. Daniel Anokwah: | Faculty Registration & Examinations Officer | | Dr. Jonathan Asante: | Experiential Practice Coordinator | ## CREST OF THE UCC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES An image of the crest follows, but cannot be included in this response. The crest features a white cross with a red lowercase "R" encircled by a snake coiled around a bowl. The crest is surrounded by an outer circle with the following text in black: - SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES - UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST ## SYMBOLS IN THE UCC SoPPS CREST AND THEIR MEANINGS - **ANANSE NTONTAN (spider's web)** - Ananse is one of the wisdom symbols depicted as a spider in some Akan folktales. It is majorly a representation of the spirit of knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and ingenuity. - **FUNTUNFUNEFU DENKYEMFUNEFU (Siamese crocodiles)** - Democracy, unity in diversity. The Siamese crocodiles share one stomach, yet they fight over food. This popular symbol is a reminder that infighting, and tribalism are harmful to all who engage in it. - **NYANSAPO (wisdom knot)** - Symbol of wisdom, ingenuity, intelligence, and patience. An especially revered symbol of the Akan, this symbol conveys the idea that "a wise person can choose the best means to attain a goal. Being wise implies broad knowledge, learning, and experience, and the ability to apply such faculties to practical ends." - **R** - R is a symbol meaning "prescription". According to most sources, it's an abbreviation of the Latin word "recipere" and appears at the start of prescriptions. The word recipe means simply "Take..." as prescribed and compounded by the apothecary. - **The bowl with a snake coiled around it is called the 'Bowl of Hygieia' with the serpent of Epidaurus.** - Hygieia was the daughter of Aesculapius, one of the Greek gods of medicine, and was herself the Greek Goddess of Good Health. Her symbol was a serpent drinking from a bowl, the snake being wisdom, immortality, and healing. - **The mortar and pestle have long been used as pharmaceutical symbols.** - Pharmacists would use mortar and pestle to crush and mix ingredients to cure diseases. The mortar and pestle are tools of traditional pharmacy, an easily recognizable visual motif.