Apprenticeship to degree: The co-evolution of twentieth-century pharmacy practice and education from a Queensland and regional perspective

This thesis explores and describes the history of professional entry-level pharmacy education and its relationship to contemporary pharmacy practice in Queensland, in consequence of the transition from an Apprenticeship based training scheme to a university based Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree course in 1960. In so doing, particular reference is made to the development of pharmacy practice in Rockhampton, a major Central Queensland regional centre. The review program is undertaken within a broad historical background eliciting the changing role of pharmacy from historical arcane craft to complex science. Firstly, the evolution of pharmacy practice in Great Britain as the progenitor of Australian pharmacy is mapped; secondly, aspects of pre-degree pharmacy practice and education in Australia are explored; thirdly, the transition era spanning the advocacy, establishment, progression and consolidation of a pharmacy degree course at the University of Queensland is traversed by means of the retrospective perceptions of contemporary students in the light of their subsequent career path experiences. Influences on the replacement of an apprenticeship education in Queensland by a university degree are examined and the sometimes conflicting demands of contemporary education philosophies and professional practice realities are investigated. Refinements in educational philosophy and its implementation during the maturing phases of the degree course are charted and changes appraised during a time span over which the essential and recognisable elements of modern pharmaceutical practice and education strategy became manifest. The academic peaks and troughs of the new educational format in the context of contemporary practice are discussed and from them are derived conclusions for the further successful consolidation of multidisciplinary healthcare education and practice. The incursion of pharmacy practice into the domain of acute patient care in private hospitals - formerly the almost exclusive prerogative of medical and nursing personnel - is investigated through a regional case study. The local acceptance of clinical pharmacy by members of the health care team is evaluated and implications for practice are considered.