A Century of Caring: The Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, 1850-1950: College of Pharmacy
The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy
| The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy was founded in 1885. Emil Boerner, who owned Boerner's Pharmacy in Iowa City, was the sole faculty member. Classes in chemistry, materia medica (the substances that make drugs), and botany were taught by staff from other University departments. All class and laboratory work took place in poorly equipped space in the Medical Building, just south of South Hall and Old Capitol. The first class consisted of twelve men and one woman.
In 1891, the College of Pharmacy moved from the Medical Building to the new Hall of Pharmacy and Chemistry, at the northeast corner of Iowa Avenue and Dubuque Street. When this building first opened, many students complained that it was too far from the main campus. In 1924, the College moved to the newly-completed Chemistry-Botany-Pharmacy Building on north Capitol Street, where it remained until a new facility on the west side of the Iowa River opened in 1963. |
59. Hall of Pharmacy and Chemistry, 1891-1926, courtesy of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy |
In 1905, the College of Pharmacy began dispensing all drugs used by University Hospital, the first such arrangement in the United States. In another national first, the College began manufacturing products used throughout the University. In addition to medicines, such products as food flavoring, baking powder, cleansing fluids, liquid soaps, and insecticides were made by College of Pharmacy faculty and students. |
In 1928, College pharmacists began participating in clinical visitations at University Hospital, more than a decade before the practice was common across the country. In this way, pharmacists gained a more direct role in health care by shifting their focus from the products they dispensed to the patients treated by those products. They interpreted medication orders on patient charts, prepared medication for administration by nurses, and provided drug information when it was needed. Pharmacists brought to patient care the special knowledge and skill gained over the course of their training and practice. |
60. Hospital pharmacy, Warren J. Meyer,
preparing an injection, 1951, courtesy of the
University of Iowa College of Pharmacy |
61. Chemistry-Pharmacy-Botany building, c. 1920, courtesy of the University of
Iowa College of Pharmacy |
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